


Caught in a Storm

by gallygaskins



Category: Ugly Betty
Genre: Angst, Engagement, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Love, Romance, Romantic Friendship, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-09-13
Packaged: 2018-01-10 03:38:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 56,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1154350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gallygaskins/pseuds/gallygaskins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Betty moved to London to make good on her dreams and Daniel didn't follow her. But when they meet up again back in New York, when Betty is touring around America, the fire between them is briefly set alight until she leaves once more. Set 5 years after the end of season 4.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
“Mom, she’s back!” Daniel Meade ran past the receptionist and skidded into Claire Meade’s office, still dressed in his Navy Pea Coat and leather gloves.  
  
“Who is, dear?” Claire asked, not looking up from the paperwork she had been going through for several hours, her black rimmed spectacles perched on the end of her nose daringly and the cardigan of a cream angora twin set slung over her shoulders, secured like a cape by the top pearl button in order to keep out the early winter chill.  
  
He peeled off his coat and gloves, laying them over the arm of the couch that adorned her office, “Betty,” he said, unable to peel the smile from his face as well.  
  
“Oh, yes.” Claire cried, finally looking up to her son, “for her book signing.”  
  
Daniel’s face fell, “you knew?” He slumped into the chair opposite his mother like a sullen child, “I had to walk past Barnes and Noble this morning to find out and you already knew. Why didn’t you say anything?”  
  
“What is there to say, Daniel? The last time we spoke about Betty you told me to … ‘butt out’.” She took off her glasses and laid them on the desk. “Does it make a difference?”  
  
“No,” he said quietly, meeting her gaze, “no. Of course not.” He responded with much more conviction.  
  
“Good.” She sighed, “besides you have Gabriella, Daniel. Why would you want to mess that up?”  
  
He smirked, “who you don’t particularly like.”  
  
“Well … ,” Claire stopped herself from saying anything that would cause an argument.  
  
Daniel stood up, retrieved his coat and gloves before turning back to his mother. “She’s not Betty.” He grimaced at his own words.  
  
“No, she isn’t.” She got up from her seat and took him into her arms, “Daniel, you know that I will support you in any decision that you make about your life, unless it’s totally reckless of course. Although I never had to worry like that about you. And God knows, Alexis still knows how to push those buttons sometimes.” She walked him over to the couch, sitting with him. “Now, answer me this. You’ve been with Gabriella a long time and yet you still haven’t asked the girl to marry you. Why is that exactly?”  
  
“I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem the right thing to do.”  
  
“And why would that be?” Claire pushed. Daniel opened his mouth to speak but if he said the words out loud he knew it would make everything real and he simply couldn’t do that. Not yet. “I think that maybe you don’t love her as much as you think you do.”  
  
His eyes met hers, searching them for an answer that would help him. “Mom?” He asked apprehensively, his eyes hooded, transporting them both back to a time when he was a five year old asking for another cookie.  
  
“It’s ok, Daniel.” She took him into his arms, “I think Betty coming home at this time is opportune, but you need to work out what it is that you want before it’s too late. It’s been five years since Betty left and you haven’t been able to fully move on.”  
  
“Are you saying she has?”  
  
“What did she have to move on from, Daniel? You hadn’t given her any indication of how you felt before she left. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s had several suitors. But what exactly was she supposed to do? I know the two of you had this connection between you that when something was up with one of you the other instinctively knew about it. But even Betty isn’t that good, Daniel. And putting three and a half thousand miles between you wouldn’t have helped either. Plus, when was the last time you talked to her?”  
  
His guilty eyes looked up to hers, “the day I signed her release.”  
  
Claire smiled sympathetically, “there are times when you still look like my little lost boy. I should be telling you off but instead, I can’t help but feel sorry for you. Had your upbringing not been so totally screwed up by your father and me then you would probably be in that damn drafty mansion with Betty right now, filling it with grandchildren for me to look after. But as it is, I have to ask, what do you want Daniel?”  
  
“Betty, I want Betty.”  
  
“And Gabriella?”  
  
“I’m meeting her for a late lunch, I’ll tell her then.”  
  
Claire smiled, “then go and get Betty. I understand that she’ll be at the Fifth Avenue store from eleven for a couple of hours. Why don’t you casually pop by and say ‘hello’?”  
  
He kissed his mother on the cheek. “Thanks, I think I might just do that. You can handle things here for a while, can’t you?”  
  
“Of course, darling. Tell Betty I said ‘hi’.”  
  
“Ok, mom.” He grinned, his heart pounding in his chest so loudly that he could hear it in his ears. “Wish me luck?” He said as he rounded the corner and back down the corridor.  
  
Claire’s smile faded, “good luck, son. You’re going to need it.”  
  
.oOo.  
  
“You look beautiful, darling.” Garry Vincent enthused, as he bent down and kissed his fiancée’s cheek, his hands fiddling with the buttons on his shirt as she applied her blusher.  
  
Gazing up to meet the cool blue loving look she was receiving from her publisher and husband to be, Betty Suarez blushed. “You always make my job harder when you tell me that.” She said, swatting at his hands as they slid under her arms and over her breasts. His fingers deftly working his own kind of magic as he nuzzled at her neck.  
  
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he teased her, “but I can never get over how it is that I managed to get you to fall in love with me. And the last thing I’m going to do is allow anyone else the chance to rob you away, so that’s why I keep on telling you, my darling. To keep you close.” He purred, his voice sending an icy shiver down her spine. He turned her face towards him with a finger under her chin. “I love you, Betty, with all of my heart. I can’t wait to marry you.” He placed the most delicate kiss to her freshly painted lips in order to limit the damage on her handiwork. “I’ll be back,” he grinned, standing up straight and leaving her to return to her beautification.  
  
Looking into the mirror, she watched him walk into the bathroom, the smile that she had plastered on dissipating, before beginning to scrutinise the look on her face. She still couldn’t quite believe that she was engaged to be married, let alone to one of the most successful publishers in England. But as she kept on thinking about finally being home, she had to wonder if there wasn’t still some small piece of her that didn’t want what Garry was offering. She had to admit he had a lot to give, he was charming, a gentleman and the sex was amazing. He had a penthouse in Belgravia, a hall in Hertfordshire and a yacht moored in Monte Carlo harbour. And he’d have given Matt Hartley a run for his money quite literally had she had to weigh them up against one another.  
  
But what if that was all too much? She remembered how Matt had hidden his wealth because he’d felt it a barrier and she didn’t believe she would be any different. And what would she do after she and Garry married in a society wedding that she really didn’t want? He had already told her that he expected her to stay at home and watch the ‘offspring when nanny was unavailable to do the job’, after all, the first born son would be inheriting a title at some stage in their life and it ‘simply wouldn’t do for the child’s mother to have a career’.  
  
Sighing, she gently tapped the blusher brush against her chin. If only she could fathom out what it was she really wanted. When she was younger, she’d wanted her own magazine. Her first had been the one that she and Hilda had made for their dying mother. Her second had been the highly acclaimed  _London B_  magazine that she’d set up with Lindsay Dunne and although she was still on the masthead as a contributor, fiction had now become her passion. Having sold her half of the magazine back to Dunne it had allowed her to put down a healthy deposit on a fifth floor flat in Southwark, several blocks behind the Tate Modern and The Globe Theatre. From here she was allowed the merest peak of a view of the Thames and the London Eye on one side of her living room and The Shard on the other.  
  
Her new flat had also been the place where she’d written her story, or more precisely, her’s and Daniel’s. Having been translated into several languages, Garry’s publishing house was now marketing her book to the world at large after selling over a quarter of a million copies in four weeks in the UK and topping the Amazon charts. Hence the rather quickly organised book tour of America that she had just started in New York, of all places.  
  
Her book, she smiled to herself. The reception that it had received in the UK had been amazing, in a whirlwind of TV specials and book signing events, Betty’s book, along with her face, had been plastered everywhere. On building hoardings, in Tube stations, at bus stops and even on the side of a double decker. Life for a short while had become unbearable, she’d missed meeting friends for a drink or lunch. She’d taken taxis across town in order to stop being recognised on public transport. She’d even taken to having her groceries delivered so that she wouldn’t have to spend half of her life in her local supermarket signing autographs and being asked if she pictured herself as the leading lady and, if so, who she imagined her love interest to be.  
  
If only they knew. And of course, the only people that were likely to realise it was about them would be close family and she hoped she’d changed enough of the settings and events to get away with anyone reading too much into it. The only other person who would know for sure would be Daniel himself, and she was fairly certain that he wouldn’t want to read a romance, even if she was the author. She sighed again, closing the lid on her blusher and picking up her hair brush to pull it through her espresso locks, involuntarily closing her eyes.  
  
“Betty?” she heard Daniel call.  
  
“Yes,” she answered, her megawatt smile beaming as he walked up to her and took her into his arms. A strong hand found its way to the nape of her neck, supporting her head as he bent towards her, his fingers delving through her hair to touch her skin and find her pulse point.  
  
“God, I love you, Betty. No-one has ever touched me like you have. I need you.”  
  
“You have me, Daniel,” she said, finding the courage to close the gap between them and kiss him. “I’m yours, forever.”  
  
“Betty? Betty?” Daniel started to cry out, but something wasn’t quite right. “Darling, are you ok?” She realised that Garry was sat next to her on the bench, his hands on her shoulders. She opened her eyes, the brush now lying on the floor by her feet. “Wow, you really zoned out there.”  
  
A smile touched her lips as she tried to bring herself back to the present. “I’m fine,” she said quickly, “thank you.” She bent down to pick up the brush as he got up and retraced his steps back into the bathroom, her reflection smiling wistfully back at her as she touched her fingers to her lips. “Daniel,” she whispered, “I need you too.”  
  
A tinge of regret clouded her features as she heard Garry return to their bedroom. What was she going to do? She smiled up at him as he came closer. “Are you ready?”  
  
She smiled wider as she nodded her head, “yes.” She said, her head unable to stop her thoughts whirling and her heart beating erratically, hoping that the feelings she had buried deep within her for so long weren’t on show. The last thing she needed right now was anything to cloud her judgement. Besides, she loved Garry, didn’t she? Or was she just settling again? Perhaps the easiest thing to do would be to just get on with what she had to do, see her family during the few days they were staying there and then get on with the book tour. As long as she distanced herself from Daniel and Meade Publications then hopefully she could keep herself in check. After all, how likely was it that she would actually see him during her visit?  
  
Garry helped her into her coat as she pushed her feet into the Blahnik heels she had picked out to wear and picking up her purse as he opened the hotel room door. “Beautiful,” he said as they kissed, “I love you.”  
  
“And the money I’m making you,” she teased as she straightened his tie, “I love you too, Garry.”  
  
.oOo.  
  
When Daniel left his office at Meade he had assumed that it would take a good while for his driver to crawl through the midday traffic to the Fifth Avenue store. But by the time he was dropped off he had a bit of time to kill, having decided that he didn’t want to pitch in too early. Determining that he had at least half an hour to kill he went up to the first floor coffee shop within the domineering booksellers, got himself a drink and found a seat next to the glass balustrading where he could look down to the ground floor and at the line of people that were moving genially forward towards where Betty was sat behind a large oak desk, taking each proffered book in turn and inscribing it with a dedication.  
  
The remnants of his coffee drunk, he set off down towards the ground floor, especially now that the once burgeoning line of buyers had dwindled. As he rounded the corner he was stopped by a young sales assistant. “Can I help you, sir?” She asked.  
  
“I’m here to see Betty.”  
  
The girl looked at him as if he had three heads. “Betty? Who’s Betty?” He looked stumped, knowing exactly who Betty was, taking in her hunched over form across the floor from him, still signing the remaining buyers books. The girl looked over to where Daniel’s eyes were aimed. “Oh, you’re here for the book signing.” She picked up a copy of Betty’s book and handed it to him, the hardback tome weighing heavy in his hands.  
  
“That’s right,” he said a little too brightly, “thanks.” He nodded towards the girl and slowly walked toward the desk, his eyes taking in the cover. A typical romance by the looks of things, why had Betty sold herself out to do this, he wondered, taking in the beautiful black and white photograph of her that sat on the back of the dust jacket. He turned it over again, “Rosa Martinez?” She had written under a pseudonym. Why?  
  
He joined the end of the queue which now consisted of three people, looking behind himself every now and then to note that he was still the last. As he drew closer her speech became clearer, the delightful tones of her patter sinking deep within him and lighting a fire in his heart. Whenever she chuckled, the tones tickled at his senses, opening up old wounds and allowing his feelings to rip through him like a tornado. By the time he got to the desk he’d had to loosen his tie, his mouth so dry that swallowing was an effort, his heart in his mouth seemingly blocking his airways. He was a wreck already and he hadn’t even spoken to her yet.  
  
As the last buyer had said their ‘thank you’s’ to Betty for the umpteenth time, she was suddenly distracted by a man setting down a cup of coffee on the desk for her. “How’s it going?” He asked, knocking her pen onto the floor and dropping down to retrieve it for her.  
  
“Great,” Daniel heard her respond, “everyone has been so friendly, Garry. Thank you for sorting this all out for me.”  
  
“My pleasure, darling. I’ve booked us a table at The Russian Tea Room for two o’clock.”  _Did people still go there?_  Daniel had to wonder. But then the guy was British, he was probably just out to impress her.  
  
“Wow, I’ve never been there.” Daniel smiled.  _I’d have never have taken her there, that’s for sure, this guy is a schmuck,_ he thought. “It’s more of a tourist spot.” He heard Betty add.  _Or trap,_ Daniel appended, watching her as she attempted to take the proffered pen that Garry was holding out to her, but he held firm pulling her to him and kissing her.  
  
“I can’t wait to …” Daniel had to stop this, what was that guy doing?  
  
The book landed on the desk with a thud, the noise echoing around the store, the coffee splashing over the side of the cup from the sudden impact. “I wonder if you could sign my book, please.”  
  
Daniel watched her shoo the guy away, but he didn’t leave completely. “Of course, I’m sorry,” she said, keeping her head lowered as she took a sip of her drink and placed the nib of the pen on the front page. Daniel’s eyes left the face of the scowling man and travelled down to where Betty’s hand was poised ready for action. “What would you like as the dedication?”  
  
Daniel thought quickly, “how about you start with, ‘to my dear old friend, Daniel’.” He smirked.  
  
He watched her drop the pen, her head slowly raising as she first took in his torso and then his face, her eyes widening in realisation, her hands covering her mouth as she gasped, “Daniel?”  
  
Even when Garry appeared at her side, Daniel never took his eyes away from hers, the chocolate depths swirling before him. “Is this man bothering you, darling?” He said, obviously in an attempt to let Daniel know who had a claim on Betty.  
  
“No,” she said, her eyes never leaving Daniel’s for one second. “Go and wait in the back for me, Garry. I’ll be there as soon as I finish up here.”  
  
“Ok,” he leant down kissing her cheek, Daniel noting how she seemingly flinched at this small show of affection. Something wasn’t quite right with the picture she was portraying but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.  
  
As soon as Garry had left them, she relaxed. “What are you doing here?” Betty asked in a whisper.  
  
“I could ask the same of you.” Daniel retorted, allowing his eyes to finally dance over her face taking in how lovely she looked. “This is a bookstore, after all. I’m just here buying a book from a much-admired author and having her sign it for me.” His eyes fell to her left hand, the bright diamond glistening away on her ring finger. “What are you doing here?”  
  
“Signing your book, obviously.” She grinned, her smile as amazing and beautiful as he remembered and frequently saw in his dreams.  
  
“Obviously, but apart from that Betty. What happened with your magazine and Dunne?”  
  
“I found a different calling.”  
  
“Was that before or after the Brit,” his eyes look behind her as he moved his head to intimate where her boyfriend had left the store.  
  
“Before, not that that’s any of your business.”  
  
“No, you’re right. It isn’t any of my business, I relinquished that right the day I signed your release form.” His eyes were cold, his words bitter. She took it on the chin but he could tell that she was holding back the tears. “I’m sorry.” He hung his head, “just sign my book for me and I’ll go.”  
  
“Daniel, it doesn’t have to be like this.” She said, taking up her pen again and filling two pages with her handwriting.  
  
He shook his head, knowing that he had missed his chance with her completely. “Ah, but it does. I should never have come.” After closing the cover, she pushed the book towards him. He placed his hand on top ready to pull it closer in order to pick it up when she rested her hand on his.  
  
His eyes found hers once more, “Have dinner with me, tomorrow,” she pleaded. “Garry’s going on to Boston for some convention so I’ll be here on my own.”  
  
“I can’t, I’m sorry.” He shrugged.  
  
“Oh, ok.” Her smile fell from her face, “I just wanted to catch up with my ‘old friend’.” She bit her lower lip.  
  
He closed his eyes, could he possibly endure spending several hours with the woman that had become his best friend all those years before and now who he knew he loved more than anyone else? “Ok, I’ll come. But not to The Russian Tea Room.” She grinned her megawatt smile, “I’ll make a reservation for us somewhere nice for seven.” He said returning her grin. Ok, so their ‘date’ was probably going to kill him but he couldn’t possibly reject her now, not again. “And I’m paying, I owe you.”  
  
“You owe me nothing, Daniel”  
  
 _I owe you everything,_ he thought. “I owe you five years.” He chuckled, taking his book under his arm. “You know I’m not going to read this don’t you?” He said honestly.  
  
She nodded, “I guessed as much. I haven’t turned to the dark side you know.”  
  
“Your writing romance, I’d say that was pretty much beyond the dark side, Betty. What happened to writing something meaningful?”  
  
“It’s in that book,” she gestured as he made some face at her and rolled his eyes. He took a couple of steps back, attempting to ascertain where the cash registers were. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Daniel.”  
  
“Yep, I’ll text you. I take it you’re still on the same number?” She nodded. He waved the book in front of her, “I’d best go and pay for this. See you tomorrow.” He smiled.  
  
She stood up quickly and rushed around the desk. Taking him in her arms like she had so many times before and like the last five years apart had never happened. “See you tomorrow.” She smiled up at him before letting him go. For what seemed like forever he just stood there trying to take in what had just happened, a little shell-shocked if he were to tell the truth. “Earth to Daniel,” she waved her hand in front of his face. “I thought you were going to pay for your book.”  
  
“Yes, I am.” He said, slowly turning and walking towards the sales desk. He stopped, looking back and having to grin at the fact that she was still stood on the same spot watching his retreat, already biting at her lower lip once more and giving him a small wave before picking up her pen and cup.  
  
As she began walking towards the back of the store and where Garry had previously exited, he could truly appraise his meeting with her. If she turned back once more then he knew that Garry’s days were numbered. As she reached the door, she turned, looked him dead in the eye and smiled, before taking her phone out of her jacket pocket. His buzzed away, he pulled it out from his pants pocket and opened up the text.  _C U tomoz. Can’t wait, B_ x. He texted back.  _Neither can I, and I miss you already. D x_. Catching one last look of her glorious smile as she brought her head up from her phone, she held his gaze momentarily before placing her hand on the handle, opening the door and walking through it. He drew in a large steadying breath, smiling to himself as he placed the book by the register and paid for it. If he was lucky, then he’d have time to read her inscription later on that afternoon when he was meant to be in the gym. He could steal an hour and go home, as there was no way he could read it at the office. But first things first. His phone buzzed away in his hand.  
  
He read the text.  _I’m not going to be able to make dinner. Shoot overran in Morocco, flight delayed in Paris and now stuck in heavy traffic because of an accident on the way into Manhattan. Miserable and tired, I’m going home to sleep through it. See you tomorrow? Loving you, Gabs xx._  
  
Ok so maybe not, he texted her back.  _Ok honey, I’ll see you Friday, I’ll arrange dinner for us as I can’t meet tomorrow, meeting up with an old friend who’s been out of town for a while._  
  
Her reply came moments later.  _Hope you have a good time with Becks and send him my love. Gabs xxx._  
  
Well he wasn’t going to correct her.  _Will do, love you._  And so that was that. He hailed a cab and went to dinner, asking his mother to join him but she had already eaten so he went by himself. No point in wasting the reservation.  
  
Ushering him to his table, the waiter quickly took his order, all the while Daniel’s hands itching to open the book and read the dedication that Betty had written. He opened up the bag, wondering if what was printed on the jacket was also printed on the binding as he pulled it off the book. To his relief, he found it was a plain red cover, the only hint to the contents inside being the gold lettering on the spine and that was going to be hidden as he opened up the pages. He set the book on the table, opened the cover and began to read.  
  
“To the most wonderful and dearest old best friend that I ever had,” it began, “I can only apologise for how things were left when you and I parted ways, and for the fact that I just seem to have spent my life in a whirlwind ever since. I should’ve called, or emailed but I was afraid, afraid that you still felt that I had wronged you in some way. I should’ve told you I was leaving but I couldn’t bring myself to, and the day I finally plucked up the courage to talk to you about it, Marc chose to bury me in the sand and watch me flounder.  
  
“I’m not proud of myself or of my actions. I missed you so much. No, I miss you, even today before I got to Barnes and Noble I was thinking about you and our situation. I miss our late night conversations in front of an old movie, or dinner in the conference room when we’re the only two people left in the Meade building. I miss how whenever there was something wrong we could just look at each other and know instinctively what it was and how we could help out. I miss knowing that you’re only half an hour away if I need you. I miss our hugs.  
  
“I left Dunne behind because it was too much and it took me away from the one thing I loved to do, write. You do realise that although I aspired to be like you, I still couldn’t do it properly. It takes a certain kind of person to run a magazine and I’m not it. Not on my own anyway.  
  
“I couldn’t come home because I’d made a life for myself in London and as a writer of fiction has to write about what they know then I had to gain an understanding, a certain knowledge that only writers in this field can garner. I was finally able to experience life without being held back, no-one knew me, no-one understood me, no-one truly cared. I had to make a new way, forge a different path. I still care about what I write and I still care about my readers, I just offer them my words in a different format. I hope that in time you’ll swallow your pride and read this book of mine. Maybe you can help me out with the ending, I’m still not sure I got it completely right.  
  
“Daniel, I hope that we can overcome our differences of late, we’ve nearly been apart from each other for nearly as long as we’ve actually known one another and I would hate to think that another year goes by without our friendship rekindling. I want you to know that I don’t hold any ill feeling towards you, you may have missed my party but I was wrong to mess up the bigger picture, I was leaving you behind and had it happened the other way around then I probably would’ve reacted in a similar way. I love you, Daniel and I need you, and your showing up today has only helped to strengthen those sentiments. Please, let’s resolve this and come out of this as friends once more. Your loving friend, B x.”  
  
He sat back in his chair, the comprehension of words shocking him to his core. With the way they had parted that very afternoon and the words she had written in his book, there was something very wrong with the bigger picture. He started to hack away at his steak as he continued to think about what had transpired but he came back to the same few questions, what was she doing with that Garry guy? Was she really in love with him? And, if not, what was she doing wearing his ring?  
  
He looked at the book again, were the answers in there or was it just going to make him ask more questions.  _Swallow my pride and read her words, she wants to tell me something and she wants my advice on how it ends._  He flicked through to the first chapter.  
  
 _I can honestly say that I never hated anyone more than I hated Peter after that very first week of work that he had subjected me to. I knew that I was green but he really hadn’t needed to take advantage of my naivety in the way that he had, especially as I hadn’t been his candidate of choice; it had been his father who had hired me and as a result I was suffering from the brunt of Peter’s anger._  
  
 _Usually the angel of compassion, I hadn’t recognised the trait, trying to hold onto the one and only job I had ever had because it was such a great opportunity and I certainly didn’t want to have to go back to cleaning up after sick cats or making a career out of being the chips girl at my local Mexican restaurant. He threw everything at me, walking a dog that he didn’t even own, picking up his dry cleaning from several places taking me far and wide across the city in order to do it, picking out cabbage from his coleslaw and making sure it stayed at a certain temperature. I think you get the picture._  
  
 _But then something changed. I’d finally had enough, I flipped out. And all because he had set me up for the biggest fall yet._  
  
 _This day began like any other, I turned up for work as I had done every day that week, I had gone through my emails, sorted out the diary, updated Peter’s list of jobs and made every last call in order to set up the latest PR campaign for the hottest new boy band on the planet – Up & Over. By the time Peter had finally decided to pull himself out of bed of whichever flavour of the month he had slept with the previous evening, I was making the last call to the catering company._  
  
 _As I hung up the phone, I breathed in deeply, picking up my pad and pen, and his coffee and Danish that I had had the foresight to ask the receptionist to get for me, even if it was under duress. “Peter,” I said calmly, keeping my smile at a reasonable pitch for him at this time in the morning. His head shot up from where it was lolling over the back of the chair, from the red rims of his eyes it was clear that hadn’t been asleep for very long. “Good morning,” I placed the Danish in front of him, he pushed it away as I noticed a green tinge colour his face. I pulled the lid off the cup and placed the steaming liquid down in front of him before taking a seat opposite, my pen poised ready on the first line of a new page in my notebook._  
  
 _“Thank you,” he said, somewhat genuinely a smile hinting at his lips. “So, what do we have today, Lily.”_  
  
 _I looked up from my book, this was a surprising turn of events. “The nine thirty meeting you had with your dad has been switched to twelve. You have a finance meeting up at accounts at eleven and then there’s the shoot for Miyagi’s Boys from half one this afternoon down at the old studio.” I smiled, finally feeling like I was actually being useful as his assistant._  
  
 _“Ok, thanks.” He nodded, “I’ll meet you back here about one so if you can make sure there’s a town car ready for us then, we’ll make that shoot.”_  
  
 _“We?” I asked._  
  
 _“Well, you are my assistant aren’t you? Who knows, I may need you to run a few errands or something,” he smiled sweetly._  
  
 _I wasn’t too sure of this change of heart from him but it was better that than the way he had been with me over the previous four days, so aloof and judgemental. “Ok, I’ll be ready to leave at one.”_  
  
 _“Great,” he smiled, as I turned and headed for the door. “Oh, and Lily.” I turned back. “Thanks for the coffee and the Danish. Much appreciated.”_  
  
 _I nodded, before heading back out to my desk. At ten forty five he left his office and I was left in peace and quiet once again to go over the diary for the following week, confirming meetings and setting up internal lunches and the like. Then at one he appeared once again, his mouth a thin line as he looked over towards me, obviously his father had given him some kind of ultimatum and Peter hadn’t liked it. “Ready?” He asked me._  
  
 _“Yep,” I said, obediently following him to the elevators and down to the waiting car. He hardly said a word to me, but to me it was a welcome relief, it gave me to time to regroup and to try and understand this man beside me who was acting like a sullen teenager. By the time we got to the studio, nothing much had changed until he met up with his old friend from college. I took a seat out of the way, watching models taking their places around a burnt out car. The latest single by the pop group who were the main focus of the pictures, blaring out around the place. I saw Peter look around the property for me. I tried to hide but couldn’t, he strode purposely towards me as I cowered into the chair._  
  
 _“We need your help,” he blurted out._  
  
 _“What?” I asked, suddenly confused, “why?”_  
  
 _“One of the models has gone missing, you’ll have to fill in for her.”_  
  
 _I looked back at the developing scene; the models, all scantily clad, looked beautiful and poised. “No,” I shook my head, “no way.”_  
  
 _“Lily, I need your help. I’m desperate here.” He took hold of my hands, his thumbs rubbing circles over my skin. I blushed from the sudden contact, too aware of how close he was to me. “Please, Lily.” For the second time that day, he was all sincerity._  
  
 _“I don’t know, Peter. What would I have to do?”_  
  
 _“Just go out to the changing room, put on the costume that’s left out there, come back and follow what the other girls are doing.”_  
  
 _Could it really be that bad? I thought to myself. “Ok,” I grinned my silver grin, for at the age of twenty two I was still wearing braces because my family couldn’t afford to help me pay for them beforehand. “I’ll do it.” I added, in proper Bridget Jones fashion._  
  
 _I made my way out to the back, found the costume Peter had told me about and put it on. It was a snug fit around my chest, which I was a little semi-conscious of with the amount of cleavage that was on show, but I could do this, especially if I hid behind one of the other models. And even though I was wearing something that was akin to what I thought only hookers and porn stars would wear, I didn’t feel overtly unsexy. I even wondered if my boyfriend would like to see my dressed like this. Here went nothing._  
  
 _I sidled out, the photographer grabbing my arm and placing me in front of everyone. I would be dead in the centre of the album cover in all of my glory. What would my mother think of me? And what about my dead father? I felt so ashamed but I was only helping out I reasoned._  
  
 _I heard a snigger from somewhere behind me as I leant against the hood of the car, I didn’t know how to look sensual at that point in my life. I’d had one boyfriend up until that point and I had never felt the urge to look at him as if I was lusting after him the way the photographer wanted me to look at these eighteen year old wannabe’s. I leant my body backwards, arching my back, my legs apart and I promptly fell onto my arse to rapturous applause and laughter from every corner ringing in my ears. This was humiliating, I stood up and pounded for the dressing room, somehow managing to catch Peter’s sombre face. At least he hadn’t laughed. Grabbing my clothes and stuffing them into my bag, I pulled my coat on around me and hugged it to myself. “Lily?” I heard him call out softly. A lone tear escaped over my cheek but it was the only one I allowed._  
  
 _I turned towards him abruptly. “What?” I spat out, my hands shoved forcefully under my armpits._  
  
 _“I’m sorry about what happened in there.”_  
  
 _“Just in there, or what’s been happening all week.” I finally snapped. “Because from where I’m standing there hasn’t been much of a difference. What were you trying to do, make me quit?”_  
  
 _He didn’t have to say anything for me to finally understand what was going on. “I’m sorry, Lily.”_  
  
 _I nodded my head, “oh, forgive me if I don’t believe you. Just because I didn’t fit into the description of the woman you wanted to have as your assistant, does not mean you can trample on me to get to your father.” I said, no longer caring if I was now going to stamp on his feelings. “What did he say at lunch, by the way, that I wasn’t going anywhere until you learnt to control yourself?”_  
  
 _“Something like that,” he admitted. “Look, I never meant for things to go this far.”_  
  
 _“But you meant for me to lose my job. The only thing I ever cared about was the fact that I had a job at Hipster Records, working for the best recording studios on the East Coast and for the Howard family as well. This was my one shot of gaining the skills I needed to set up on my own one day, but because you care so little about anyone but yourself, I now have to find myself something else to do. I quit.”_  
  
 _“You can’t.” He sounded like he was five._  
  
 _“I can, my obligation was to your father, not you. I’ll let him know what’s happened.” That surprised him._  
  
 _“No, please. We can work this out Lily.” He pleaded._  
  
 _I shook my head, there was nothing else left to say. I slung my bag over my shoulder, picked up my shoes and turned on my heel. “I’ll get this costume back to you next week.” I said, as I pulled open the door and slammed it behind me, finally allowing the once threatening tears to roll freely over my cheeks. That, or so I thought, would be last time I saw him. How wrong I was._  
  
As Daniel took the final sip of the red wine he had been drinking, he closed the book and placed it back into the bag.  _Jeez,_ he thought,  _this is about us._ “Oh my God.” He managed.  
  
“I’m sorry, sir?” The waiter asked him, his face perplexed.  
  
“Um, nothing. Can I just have the bill please?” The waiter skipped off, only too happy to oblige.  
  
Daniel looked at his watch, three thirty. There was no way he was going back to work now. He rung his mom, saying that something had come up and that he’d speak to her later on. In truth, he was intrigued to find out what Betty had written next and he didn’t want to waste another minute not knowing.  
  
He jumped in a cab and set off for home, making sure that he stopped off at the corner store for a few supplies before seeking solace in his place and battening down the hatches. He didn’t know how much of the book he’d get through in one night but he was going to make sure that he had a damn good try in finishing it. With a pot of coffee on, snacks strategically placed around him and the throw from the back of the sofa over his legs he began to read chapter two.  
  
 _My mother and father had always brought me up to be civil but as Peter stood in front of me in the lounge of my family home, I was finding that that was an increasingly difficult thing for me to do ..._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Daniel woke up, the sound of his cell’s shrill ringtone playing close to his ear from where it was being charged on the table by the couch. Picking it up he looked at the caller ID sighing. “Mom?”  
  
 _“Daniel, what is going on?”_  
  
“Um … what do you mean?” He winced.  
  
 _“When you said to look after the place whilst you were gone, I did expect you to return at some point yesterday afternoon. Are you sick?”_  
  
“No, I’m fine. I … I …” Should he tell her what he’d been doing all night.  
  
 _“Yes?”_ His mother patiently asked.  
  
“I met with Betty, at the bookstore.”  
  
 _“And?”_  
  
“She signed my book for me.”  
  
There was a short pause, _“you’d better not be about to tell me that you slept with her last night, Daniel. When I said to go get her, I meant take it easy. Especially as I’m guessing you haven’t yet spoken to Gabriella.”_  
  
“Mom, how could you even think that? There is no way that I would just take up with her like that, besides which we haven’t even been out on a date yet.”  
  
 _“I figured the two of you may have bypassed that.”_  
  
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, mom. I thought you of all people understood I’m not that same man any longer, Betty helped me see that, I changed because of that. Besides, she deserves the best of everything and I’m not going to rush into things with her.” He stopped short, remembering the man that had brought out a drink for her. “She’s got a fiancé anyway.”  
  
 _“A tiny stumbling block.”_  
  
“Well, a stumbling block all the same. Although he’s leaving for Boston this morning, so Betty invited me out to dinner with her tonight.” He smiled to himself.  
  
 _“So you’re preparing for your big date today then?”_  
  
He chuckled, “not exactly, I’m reading her book.”  
  
 _“It’s obviously very interesting if it’s keeping you from work.”_  
  
“Yeah.” He paused, “it’s about us, Betty and me.”  
  
Another pause, _"where have you got to?”_  
  
“I got to chapter ten, where Betty and I are on the Brooklyn Bridge, just talking and getting to know each other better. It’s the first time I really compliment her.”  
  
 _“Do you remember what you said to her?”_  
  
“Yes,” he smiled wistfully, “we’d been talking about how Alex had died and then I’d asked her about why she wasn’t going after Henry, encouraging her to take the plunge before everyone knew what a total jerk he really was. And I said,” he could see her standing in front of him as if they’d suddenly been transported back to that exact time. She looked so young and innocent, her unruly hair being blown gently around her face as he’d given her back the glove that she’d inadvertently dropped and he’d picked up for her. “You’re better than any model, Betty.”  
  
 _“Oh Daniel, my boy is a romantic.”_  
  
“Mom, I just cared for her then, wanted to get her out into the world and really start living in it. I told her she was beautiful too, later on when I was just about to make a fool of myself over Molly.”  
  
 _“Daniel, I think we both know that there was always something special between you, even if it took both of you sometime to realise it._  
  
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday though, I can assure you. Seeing her again after all those years apart. I’m in love with her mom, there’s no doubt about that.” His smile faded, what was he going to do about that boyfriend?  
  
 _“There was a bit I remember all too clearly and certainly not your finest hour. The moment you tell her she’s stupid for knowingly wanting to have her heart broken by Henry for the second time. You could have been a little more sympathetic. Although your words did stop her going after Henry right away. At least until Hilda pitched in.”_  
  
“Huh.” Daniel’s brows crossed, “you’ve read her book?”  
  
 _“Several months ago. She sent me a copy, wanted to know what I thought.”_ He could hear the smirk in her voice,  _“I mean, I wasn’t sure it was totally biographical, not until you just confirmed that for me. But I can now envisage everything actually happening.”_ She paused. _“I just hope that the reality of the situation doesn’t overshadow the romance of the book.”_  
  
Now he was perplexed. “What do you mean?”  
  
 _“The ending Daniel. I hope that actual events mirror fiction.”_  
  
“Why wouldn’t it?”  
  
 _“Just read it, then we’ll talk.”_ She sighed, _“by the way, your sister’s read it too. She wants you to know that you’ve been a ‘total jackass and you should just put everything to one side and go for it. Throw Betty over your shoulder and take her to your cave.’ I’m not sure I agree with that stance myself.”_  
  
“Don’t worry mom, I’m going to take it fairly easy. Last thing I want to do is scare her off and back into the arms of her fiancé.”  
  
 _“He’s her publisher too.”_  Claire agreed,  _“Although I’m guessing that he doesn’t know the real story behind the book, should he find out then both of you are going to have to be careful. This could get really messy.”_  
  
“I know, mom. But I have to at least tell her. Even if she does stay with Limey then I’ve played my part.”  
  
 _“Just be careful darling. You know how impetuous you can be.”_ His mother warned.  
  
“Yeah, I will. Then all I have to do is tell Gabriella it’s over.”  
  
 _“Even if you don’t get Betty?”_  
  
“Yep.” He was resolute, “I can’t be with someone I don’t love, and I don’t love Gabriella. It’s as simple as that.”  
  
 _“I’m sorry, Daniel. I feel for you but I’m glad that maybe my relationship with you father obviously opened your eyes to the pain it can cause two people living in a loveless marriage. And then there was that horrible relationship with Cal.”_ Claire sighed,  _“perhaps I should have become a lesbian?”_  
  
“Thanks for that,” Daniel responded sarcastically. “I really needed that mental image.”  
  
 _“Sorry, darling. Anyway, I need to get back to work, this place won’t run itself. And happy reading.”_  
  
“Thanks mom, I’ll speak to you later.” He put the phone down, made another pot of coffee, ate some cereal and got back to the book.  
  
 _Every year Hipster Records would put on the event of the festival calendar. It was always glitzy and showy, with the very latest bands and some old stalwarts to headline each of the five stages over the course of three nights in August. And this year was no exception, apart from the fact that this year was both mine and Peter’s first shot at making this event something for everyone to shout about._  
  
 _And by the time the first show was about to start, I had several things I had to worry about; the first being my sister. My out of work sister who had managed to get a job at Hipster by just turning up, smiling at my boss and him asking me to find something for her to do as we needed the help._  
  
 _To say that I was a little jealous of Iris would be an understatement, at Hipster it was me making my own way in the world, I was finally getting a little respect and people were actually beginning to call me by my first name instead of something that vaguely resembled it. The one and only time that Iris and I had worked together it had been a nightmare, and I had been the one getting the sack whilst she flashed her eyelashes at the boss and kept her job. Having already told her that morning that there was nothing at Hipster I now had to make my status clear. “I’m in charge Iris, what I say goes. Got it?”_  
  
 _She’d just shrugged her bony shoulders at me, “ok, I got it.” Before picking up several hundred copies of her resume and sauntering off to find a t-shirt that would fit her. I just merely found myself walking to wardrobe in order to have a breakdown on my friend’s couch, whilst she fussed around the costume fittings for the Diamond Dogz, a girl group from Milwaukee that Hipster had just signed. They would be first up on stage three the following day with their handful of songs and it was Geri’s job to make sure that they looked the part even if they didn’t quite sound it yet._  
  
 _My second problem turned up in the form of Tatum Sanders, a rogue by any other name. He held out his hand to me, introducing himself as Peter’s old college buddy and even though I had been told various things about Peter’s Harvard days, this incredibly handsome man, with the huge smile and sparkling eyes caught me slightly off guard. His protestations to help me out should Peter ‘make my life hell’ made me act like a giddy twenty-two year old, unlike the ‘attractive, intelligent, confident businesswoman I believed I was at the same age; although attractive was somewhat debateable._  
  
 _Once Peter and Tate had ensconced themselves in Peter’s office, I realised that maybe Tate’s turning up wasn’t something to be ignored. Peter had made a lot of headway with his womanising ways since his public altercation with Penelope; the Latina beauty, the author of the mantra that I had self-imposed and the woman who had single-handedly disgraced Peter on national television by telling the world that their engagement was a fake in order for her to get her newest cover story. And although Peter was still occasionally turning up on page six with some knock out attached to his arm or his lips, it was no longer affecting his work._  
  
 _I sat at my desk, fielding calls and sending emails for last minute preparations looking at the pair through the inch thick glass that separated Peter from the rest of the office, wondering if they would call up their usual bet – a dollar to bag the hottest chick – someone had once told me. But I noticed no handshaking nor any money changing hands, and I hoped that Peter would be enough of an adult at the event to at least heed his father’s advice, if not mine. He’d grown exponentially since my first week of work, I only hoped that Tate’s influence wouldn’t set him back._  
  
 _My third issue came in the guise of Andrew, the young lawyer that I had developed a crush on ever since he’d helped me with some legal documentation for one of the new acts and who I thought liked me back. That was until I’d seen him kissing an old flame of Peter’s at the Christmas party. Peter had assured me that Andrew’s kissing Maria was probably just her way of saying ‘hello’ but I could never quite shake the fact that she was just so not me, with her long limbs and beautiful face and no matter how much I kept replaying Peter’s words to me, ‘he likes you, I can tell’, I could never get that kiss out of my mind._  
  
 _And despite everything else that was going on, Andrew was sweet and charming and genuinely wanted to help me out; he’d even found me a new t-shirt in a size more befitting than the one I had originally been given as my uniform for the next three days. But things still seemed a little off._  
  
 _I was taking a five second breather when he finally caught up with me to give me my new t-shirt but I could tell that there was something else he wanted to say to me. I was just about to make my excuses to leave when his hand gripped my arm, “Lily, did you get my message?” I must have looked completely confused because he then quantified, “I rang your house at Christmas, left a message with your sister.”_  
  
 _“You did?” I asked, completely bewildered by this turn of events. Why would Iris do this to me?_  
  
 _I turned on my heel. “Lily, where are you going?” I heard him call._  
  
 _“To become an only child!” I seethed, prowling around the back stage areas looking for any trace of Iris, before making my way out to the VIP and green rooms. I drew my clipboard in front of me like a shield as I wandered through the maze of people shaped groupings only to find Peter talking animatedly and obviously suggestively to a tall blonde in a red gown._  
  
 _He caught my eye, making his apologies to the woman and drawing me over to the side of the tent. “What’s up?” He asked kindly._  
  
 _“Nothing,” I sighed, noticing the look of total disbelief on his face, an eyebrow cocked upwards. “Everything. I feel like I’m going to fall on my arse again.”_  
  
 _“Lily, who was it that saved Up & Over from being ‘down & out’?”_  
  
 _“Me.”_  
  
 _“And who got the credit for it?”_  
  
 _“You.” Where was he going with this?_  
  
 _“And who has put this fantastic show together with so much enthusiasm and determination, despite getting no help from any other quarter.”_  
  
 _“Me.”_  
  
 _“And who’s going to get the credit for it?”_  
  
 _What was I, stupid? “You.”_  
  
 _“No,” he shook his head, smiling that casual smile of his that made most women weak at the knees, “you. Everyone is going to know that Lily Cervantes is the marvel behind this show, even my father.”_  
  
 _“Thank you.” I said, somewhat eased by his statement. “Now, if you’ll excuse me it’s,” I looked at my watch, “T minus twenty and I have to go find my sister.” I sloped off as succinctly as I could only just managing to get away unscathed, having to right an extremely large vase displaying a few twigs that I had knocked into unknowingly, Peter displaying a secret shake of the head and a wide smile just for me as I caught his eye on the way out._  
  
 _I found my sister in hair and make-up, her t-shirt customised with a deep V showing her cleavage and one shoulder missing, applying garish colours to the eyes and cheeks of the Diamond Dogz as well as diamante encrusted lashes that were so long and heavy that the girls could hardly open their eyes. “What are you doing?” I whispered harshly._  
  
 _“Lily calm down, the girls were just asking me my opinion on their colours so I helped them out.”_  
  
 _“Iris, I think I need a bit more green?” One of the girls shouted._  
  
 _“Ok, Sara, I’ll be with you in a sec, just sorting out Camilla’s eyes here!” Iris responded, the glue brush precariously balanced between her fingers as she attempted to stick on the lash more securely. “I think I’m good at this,” she stood back to admire her work before stepping back towards Camilla to apply a little more glue to the other lash. “What do you think Lily, could I do this full time?”_  
  
 _“What?” I closed my eyes momentarily, what was I here for again? Oh, yeah. “No, Iris. I don’t.” I snapped. “You were meant to be helping me with the gift bags for the VIP’s.”_  
  
 _She stood up to her full height, which in six inch heels was slightly intimidating even for me. Her hands were on her hips, her mouth a full pout, she was going to strike. “I wasn’t putting them on the seats at the right angle, remember?”_  
  
 _Oookaay! “Well, even so, your job is doing what I tell you to do, not going off on your own course and doing what the hell you want to!” I shouted, “and,” I was on a roll now, “what happened to my messages from Andrew?”_  
  
 _She moved over to Sara, blanking me, the largest powder brush she could find in her hands as she rifled through the colours trying to find a suitable green for Sara’s dark skin tone. “I didn’t want you getting hurt, he sounded like some big city guy who just wanted you as his plaything for one night.” She said sullenly, running circles around the powder with the brush before applying it to Sara’s cheeks._  
  
 _I grabbed the brush from out of her hand, a green streak running across Sara’s face from the left side of her jaw, over her nose and to the top right of her forehead. We both stood back in shock, our eyes wide as we attempted to breathe. I had never been so angry in my life, I pursed my lips turning towards her as a beautician stepped between us to try and rectify the damage we’d caused. “You’re fired, Iris.”_  
  
 _“You can’t fire me, Lily, ‘cause I quit!” Came her angry response, picking up her leather jacket and oversized purse before stomping out of the tent and out of my life, for the foreseeable future anyway. “I made my apologies to Sara and the girls before scurrying off to mark off the next task on my list._  
  
 _I rounded the corner into VIP only to be cornered by Peter’s father, “Lily, where’s Peter?”_  
  
 _I shook my head, I had no idea, and what did the man think I was doing? After all, I was running his show, the last thing I thought I needed to worry about was what Peter was up to. He was old enough to look after himself anyway, wasn’t he? “I don’t know,” I responded, looking around the room for Peter; not with Tate, not with the tall blonde in the red dress. I noticed the look on Mr Howard’s face, “I’ll go find him, sir!” I grinned my widest grin, letting it fall as soon as I’d turned around from him and obediently went off in search of my boss._  
  
 _I had been rushing around since the moment I’d left the house and although Mami had packed Iris and I off with our breakfast, I hadn’t eaten anything all day apart from a couple of snatched bites of an onion bagel that Andrew had passed my way earlier on in the afternoon. I was feeling dizzy, I needed some air, but I also needed to find Peter. Five minutes, that’s all I needed, five minutes to sit and take stock, to breathe deeply and reset my batteries so that the lagging adrenaline had a chance to kick back in and get me going again. I picked up a couple of sandwiches and found my way outside._  
  
 _“What the …” I stood, dumbstruck, attempting to process the sight before me, the sandwiches now left forgotten on the table where several empty bottles of ‘Hipster’ emblazoned wine also sat. “Peter? Iris?” The lip-locked pair suddenly drawing apart. For his part, Peter at least looked apologetic and somewhat embarrassed. Iris’ smile, however, was pure wickedness._  
  
 _Peter got up to his feet first, even if he was a little unsteady, “Lily, I …” He started but I cut him off, grabbing the bottle from out of his hand and startling him as a result._  
  
 _“Your father is looking for you.”_  
  
 _“Right,” he said, hanging his head like a child that had just been told off before turning tail and walking back into the marquee._  
  
 _“I can’t believe you.” I rounded on Iris._  
  
 _“Why, because I got to kiss your boss?” She pulled a mint from out of her bag._  
  
 _“No, because you have to take everything that’s mine and make it about yourself.”_  
  
 _“Careful Lily, people will think you’ve got a crush on Peter Howard.”_  
  
 _I pulled her round to face me, “I wasn’t talking about that kiss, you were obviously trying to get back at me and he was clearly very drunk. I’m talking about the fact that you waltz in here as if you own the place, within seconds everybody knows your name and inviting you to after show parties and I’m still the one they work with and don’t know who the hell I am. I’m fed up of being Iris’ sister. I thought I was beginning to make a difference and in one morning I’m back to square one.”_  
  
 _She visibly softened, shaking her head at me. “Is that what you think? You have so much going for you, Lily. This great job, a boss that’s your friend, a guy that’s besotted with you. Everything is falling into place for you. But what do I have? These boobs, this face and a whole lotta confidence, because behind all of this there isn’t much else, believe me.”_  
  
 _I pulled her into a hug, “I’m sorry, Iris. I was just jealous, I guess.”_  
  
 _“Hey, I’m jealous too.”_  
  
 _“Yeah, well I think you’d be great at make-up and beauty, why don’t you think about going back to school?”_  
  
 _“Thanks, Lily. Maybe I’ll look into it.” She smiled, “Ok, so is there anything I can do?”_  
  
 _I gave her my clipboard telling her that I had to go and find Peter and make sure he’d found his father. She sauntered off backstage as I went back to VIP, Mr Howard was up on the stage about to make a speech, but his microphone wasn’t working and suddenly a female voice came over the speakers. “Two years ago, the Howard family lost a son. Now they’ve gained a daughter.” The woman that Peter had been speaking to earlier on now stepped up onto the staging._  
  
 _“Oh God,” I heard Peter say as I reached his side._  
  
 _“What’s going on?” I questioned him but he stood still, looking up at the woman._  
  
 _“Hello, daddy.” The woman said, “Bethany is home.” Policeman rushed up and around the pair, the crowd gasping and crying out as they seized Mr Howard and arrested him for murdering the woman he’d had a twenty year affair with. Bethany posed for the cameras._  
  
 _“That’s Ben?” I questioned._  
  
 _“Yeah,” Peter acknowledged, “is it fun having a sister?”_  
  
 _I watched Bethany blow Peter a kiss before looking back over to where my sister and nephew were stood taking pictures. “It has its moments,” I shrugged. What could I tell him? That we were always competing? That it wouldn’t really change the dynamic … much; although it didn’t really have to. Peter had been working towards taking over the family business, it was what his father had been aspiring to and was about to tell the press before he’d been stopped by Bethany. What exactly was she back for? To take over now that Mr Howard had been arrested, her rightful spot as head of the family now that there was no-one else? Peter pushed back to the side-lines once again being made to feel second best, the spare son. I couldn’t have that, not after how much Peter had changed. I wouldn’t have that. I placed a reassuring hand on his arm. “Until we know what she wants we know what your father’s wish was. I’ll help you. Fight your corner. Team Peter.”_  
  
 _He looked back at me, a sad smile touching his lips, the fire all but dispersed in his eyes. “Thanks, Lily. But whatever Bethany wants, Bethany usually gets. Me? I’m just surplus to requirements.”_  
  
 _As he walked away, I couldn’t help but feel his pain as well as a hint of remorse for the way I’d acted towards Iris. I only hoped that he wouldn’t do anything too stupid and if he did, that I would be the first person he called._  
  
 _“Thank God we’re not that screwed up,” Iris said, pulling me into her side and kissing the top of my head. It was moment’s like these when I truly realised how much we loved and needed one another._  
  
 _“Yeah.” I paused, looking up at her, “Peter really needs a friend.” I said._  
  
 _“Then go after him.” Iris replied, “Marcos and I have your back,” she waved my clipboard in front of my face. “What else is there to do, really? The hard parts done, you’ve managed all that, the shows are down to the stage manager’s, right?”_  
  
 _I nodded my head, smiling up at her, “I guess. Look I’ll be back as soon as I can, and I’ve got my phone if you need me.”_  
  
 _“Go!” She ordered me, handing me my bag and shooing me away with her hands._  
  
 _I ran as fast as my little feet in platform heels would carry me, searching every conceivable nook and cranny for him, out into the night and onto the parkland. I called his phone, I screamed his name out at the top of my voice. I was frantic by the time I found him sitting on the edge of the marble fountain, another empty wine bottle at his feet, his fingers casually running through the water watching the patterns displace the still surface before it returned to normal. “Peter?”_  
  
 _“Hey? What are you doing here?” He smiled. I hoped that he was at least thankful to see me. “Shouldn’t you be looking after the shows?”_  
  
 _“I’ve done my bit,” I said somewhat tersely, “Iris is just keeping an eye on things for me.” I sat down next to him, “I thought looking for my boss and making sure he was ok was a better use of my time.”_  
  
 _“Thank you, but you really didn’t have to, Lily. I’m a big boy, I can look out for myself.”_  
  
 _“I know, but I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”_  
  
 _His cool blue eyes suddenly sought out my face, in those next few minutes it was as if he was committing every line to memory, he was actually seeing me for the first time. The hand that had been in the water was now tracing a cool wet line over my cheek, his other hand lifting away my glasses and placing them on the marble surface between us before returning to my hair and pushing the curtain from off my face and behind my ear. “Always my saviour.” His eyes so sad._  
  
 _My heart went out to him that night, he looked so lost. It was as if he was the only one of his tribe to have been left alive after a bloody battle. “I think I’d best get you home.” I said, standing up and replacing my glasses before holding out my hand for him to take._  
  
 _He stood shakily, I propped him up, my arm about his waist. “You shouldn’t hide your eyes away behind those thick rims, Lily. They’re so pretty.” He said almost enticingly, “I’m sure Andrew would love to see them as much as the next man,” he tagged on._  
  
 _“I’m not in any position to change them just yet, seeing as I’m still paying for my teeth,” I said nonchalantly._  
  
 _“Then we’d best look at your health plan after the weekend. You should also think about doing something with your hair, you need to frame your face better. There’s too much hiding you away.” He said quietly, stopping and turning me to face him, his fingers under my chin._  
  
 _“Thanks for the beauty advice but I think I’m good.” I replied hesitantly, “besides Andrew seems to like me just the way I am.”_  
  
 _“I’m sorry.” He said suddenly, letting his hand drop away from my face. “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”_  
  
 _“You didn’t.” I responded brightly, “I mean we’re friends right? We offer each other advice, are there for one another when we need to talk and are a shoulder to cry on when things are really bad.”_  
  
 _“So you’re offering me your shoulder?”_  
  
 _I smiled brightly, replacing my arm around his waist and making a beeline for the taxi rank, “of course, if you need it.”_  
  
 _“Thanks Lily, I don’t know what I’d do without you?”_  
  
 _“You’d live.” I responded, depositing him into the back of the cab and instructing the driver where to take Peter._  
  
 _“Are you not coming to tuck me in?” He grinned, blowing me a kiss as he settled back into the seat._  
  
 _I smiled back, “not tonight, Lothario. You’re big enough to sort yourself out. My work here is done.” I playfully brushed my hands together. “Besides, you know where I am if you need to talk. Goodnight, Peter.”_  
  
 _“Goodnight, Lily.” He replied softly. And as I watched the taillights disappear I realised that I could never let that man go. It would never matter where I was or with whom, I would always need Peter and I hoped, he would always need me._  
  
“You’re not wrong,” Daniel said to himself. “I do need you, Betty.” He said quickly turning the page and beginning to read the next chapter.  
  
At half five, the alarm that he’d set up on his phone began to ring. He finished off the last few paragraphs of the chapter he was reading before making his way to his bedroom, picking out a suit for his date with Betty, showering and getting ready. He looked at his watch, his driver was coming for him in thirty minutes. He still had a little time to read a bit more.  
  
 _I ran into the church, my heels clicking on the floor as all eyes turned towards me. “I object,” I screamed out, the crowd now turning their attention to the happy couple and the priest._  
  
 _“We haven’t gotten to that part yet.” The priest called back, this time the congregation were all looking back at me._  
  
 _I gulped, smiled hesitantly before saying, “oh.” Peter grabbed my arm pulling me out into the foyer, depositing me in front of the doors before starting to pace up and down._  
  
 _"So, come on, spill. What do you know?” Peter asked of me._  
  
 _“Angelique has been sleeping with her bodyguard.” I replied._  
  
 _“Oh, I knew it,” he stopped in front of me, the grin wide on his face, “when did you find out?”_  
  
 _“Peter, it’s not really important. Just go in there and talk to your father and stop the wedding.” I said, pointing at the door, attempting to get him to do just that._  
  
 _“No, no, no, I need details. I mean you’re my only proof.” He surmised, “so, did you find out on your own? Did someone tell you?” That glint was back in his eyes._  
  
 _I sighed, closing my eyes to stop myself for seeing the pain flash across his features when he found out the truth. “I saw them.”_  
  
 _And there it was, “wait, what? When?” He looked at me with furrowed brows._  
  
 _“Um … four months ago, when I went to Angelique’s apartment to get the book.” My heart cracked._  
  
 _His look was now incredulous, “four months and you waited till now to tell me?”_  
  
 _“No, Peter, it’s not what it sounds like, it’s very complicated.” I shook my head, if only I could tell Peter about the hold Angelique had over my mother._  
  
 _He cut me off. “No, it’s not complicated.” There was disdain in his eyes, “Lily, you know I’ve been trying to find a way to open my father’s eyes about this woman.”_  
  
 _I fought back, “but she was using me …”_  
  
 _“I don’t want to hear your excuses.” He fixed me with a glare, I felt like crying. “Lily, you’re the one person I always counted on being on my side, and you betrayed me.” I closed my eyes again. “For Angelique? How could I ever trust you again?”_  
  
 _“Peter, please?” I stepped forward, closing the gap, pleading to him._  
  
 _“Just stop!” He shouted, “I can’t even look at you.” He turned away from me and opened the gap up once more. Retreating away before taking one last look at me, shaking his head. “You’re fired!” He said firmly before striding back into the church. And leaving me there._  
  
 _No amount of strength on my part could stop the tears from falling. The walk to the subway, the entire train journey home, the walk up to my house, the tears just kept on coming. My heart was breaking into several pieces, not only had I lost the respect of my mother for wanting to continue to see Andrew, but I’d lost my job and my greatest friend all in one hit. As I climbed the tree up to my room, I caught my reflection in the glass. It was a sobering moment, a time to reflect on what I was doing to myself and the people around me that I loved, a time to understand that I was mourning for the lost love of the one person I cherished above all others. For what I had done to him and his family in order to save my own. I had been torn, my loyalty in shreds around my feet. I didn’t deserve any of this, all I had tried to do was the right thing, for everyone. But that didn’t make the pain any less acute._  
  
 _I climbed through the window, switched off my phone and crawled under the covers of my bed. The silent tears still falling over my face as I tried to piece everything back together, but there was nothing I could do. When Iris came in to see how I was, she stayed. Just holding me tightly and whispering kind words to me until I fell asleep, more form exhaustion than for any other reason. I was a wreck and there was nothing I could do to salvage any of it, most particularly my relationship with Peter. And when I dreamed I was tortured there too, for there was no comfort in them either. My life as I knew it, was over and the most soul destroying fact was that Peter would never figure in it again, ever._  
  
“Oh, dear God.” He swiped at a tear resting on his cheek, well Betty really knew how to pluck at the old heartstrings. “At least I got the truth from mom and I had the chance to say I was sorry.”  
  
The intercom buzzed, breaking him out of his reverie. “Hello?”  
  
 _“Mr Meade your car is here.”_ The doorman said.  
  
“Thank you, I’ll be right down.” He took a sweep of his apartment checking that everything was as it should be before he switched off the main light and shut the door behind him. He was really beginning to understand the young woman that had taken his heart across an ocean, he only hoped that he was able to get it back with hers attached to it. As he got into the back of the car he suddenly realised that he was nervous. Never in his whole life had he ever felt this way about meeting up with a woman, least of all Betty. He fiddled with his tie, the handkerchief in his pocket, his hands wringing together in front of him and the sweat beading on his forehead. “Get a grip, it’s just Betty.”  
  
He alighted the car, checking his reflection in the darkened window before walking into the restaurant. The self-assured restaurant manager taking his name and ushering him through the bar, up the stairs and to a quiet table at the back of the restaurant. “My date should be here soon,” he heard himself say, slightly reminiscent of that time he’d been waiting for Giselle, before ordering a drink and some table water. If there was one thing he hated doing it was waiting for someone to arrive. He’d much rather have picked Betty up from her hotel so that they could arrive together but Betty, being Betty, had insisted that there was no point him coming miles out of his way when it was just as easy for her to get a cab or the subway. He’d scoffed at the idea, as usual, but she had been adamant. And he should’ve remembered that where Betty Suarez was concerned that was a given.  
  
The tables around him began to fill up, where was she? He sighed taking another long draft of his scotch and checking his appearance once more in the highly polished knife. He’d have to do. “You know you always look fine, Daniel,” Betty sniggered, her eyes dancing with joy as he attempted to stand coolly but ended up knocking his knee on the table leg. She pursed her lips attempting not to laugh. “It seems that I may have rubbed off on you in more ways than one,” she teased, taking him into a hug and laying a kiss on his cheek as the height of her heels afforded her the extra elevation she’d so sorely needed.  
  
“You shouldn’t mock the afflicted.” He said, drawing away from her, wincing as a sharp pain flew up his leg from his knee.  
  
“Afflicted? What on earth would make you afflicted? Unless your age was catching up with you that is.”  
  
“Very funny, Miss Suarez,” he smiled.  
  
She let him go completely, “come on, old man. You’d best sit down before you fall down.”  
  
He rolled his eyes pulling out her seat for her and pushing it in towards the table. “I’m still not too old to be a gentleman.” He reminded her, his lips close to her ear. The scent she was wearing was making him heady, he didn’t recognise it from one she’d worn before or even the previous day, but what he wouldn’t give to unwrap her from the beautiful emerald coloured dress that she was wearing and allow the scent from her skin to permeate his world.  
  
He took his seat once more, the deep V of her dress affording him a remarkable view of the cleavage she had been hiding away for so long whilst they had worked together. His eyes travelled north, taking in the single carat diamond that sat just below her throat, before taking in those plump lips that he had dreamed about every night for over five years, kissing and loving him. Her eyes still sparkled with mirth once his gaze finally captured hers. She smiled, looking down momentarily at her hands before drawing back up to look him square in the face. “So, what’s good here?” She asked, breaking the silence between them and opening up the menu, the engagement ring missing from her finger.  
  
“Um.” Oh my God. “Everything.”  
  
“Everything?” She asked, smirking at him.  
  
“Well, everything I’ve tried. And you know what I like.”  
  
“Hmm, yes. Lots of red meat to keep up the old pecker.”  
  
Startled by her boldness he dropped his menu, which in turn knocked over his water glass, the stem breaking and the water gushing over to Betty’s side of the table and onto her dress. “Oh, shit.” He leant across the table attempting to soak up the water with his napkin, his tie scraping through the butter dish and his cuff knocking the breadsticks over. “Jeez, Betty. I’m a walking disaster. I’m so sorry.”  
  
“Didn’t you get much sleep last night?” She countered, standing to wipe down the skirt of her dress before righting the bread sticks and taking his tie and removing as much of the butter as she could. “You’ll have to get that dry cleaned.”  
  
“Pity I don’t have anyone I can trust to do that for me, like you could.”  
  
“Well, my dry cleaning run days are well and truly over.”  
  
“Is your dress going to be ok, I could add it to the list?”  
  
She picked up the glass, sniffing the contents. “It’s only water, I’m sure it will be fine.” Her hand reached over to his, her soft, warm skin making goose bumps travel up his arm, “Daniel, are you ok? You seem a little nervous.”  
  
Trust Betty to catch him out. “I’m fine, really.” He caught her expression, he shouldn’t lie to her. “It’s just that …”  
  
“Daniel?” He closed his eyes, he knew what was coming next. “I thought you were meeting an old friend tonight?”  
  
He stood up, his arm snaking around the Italian beauty’s waist. He knew he should never have brought Betty here, of all the dumbass things to do. He should’ve gone to the Russian Tea Rooms, at least there would be no-one in there that knew him. He kissed her on the cheek. “Gabriella, this is my old friend Betty.”  
  
Betty smiled her most endearing smile, “hi, Gabriella.” Her hand out ready to shake the other woman’s hand.  
  
Finally, after what appeared to be an age of Gabriella summing up the competition she took Betty’s hand. “Hi, Betty. I’m Daniel’s girlfriend, although by now we should be at least engaged.” She shot him a pensive look, “I thought you were meeting Becks.”  
  
“I never said who I was meeting with, honey.” The endearment sticking in his throat as he shot Betty a quick glance, she seemed to be looking nauseous too. “Betty and I go back a long way, we used to work together at Mode.”  
  
“Oh, right. Well, it’s nice to meet you Betty. You look familiar.”  
  
Betty smiled, “I guess I just have one of those faces,” she brushed it off.  
  
“No, wait.” Gabriella pitched into her bag, pulling out a copy of Betty’s book in Italian. “This is you, isn’t it?”  
  
Self-consciously Betty looked around herself. “Yes, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t wave that around in here.” She looked up at Daniel, he was as startled as she was.  
  
“Oh, no problem.” Gabriella said, pushing the book into her bag and calling the waiter over. “You don’t mind if I join you, do you?” She looked between her boyfriend and his old friend.  
  
“Actually, I have to run,” Betty said, picking up her bag and leaving the napkin on her unused plate. Daniel’s eyes watched her hasty retreat, retaking his seat as Gabriella had the waiter change the place setting and clean up the broken glass.  
  
“I hope I didn’t disturb anything.” Gabriella said, buttering a slice of wheat-free bread.  
  
“No, nothing.” Daniel seethed.  _Well not yet anyway._  
  
“She seemed nice, shame she had to rush off like that. I really wanted to ask her about her book.”  
  
Daniel’s attention was brought back to Gabriella, “what did you want to ask her?”  
  
“Well, they say that your first book is semi-autobiographical. I wondered if she was Lily. And then once I’d found out that you two worked together before, I wondered if you were Peter?” Her eyes caught his, the deep slate blue that they held indicated that he was about to erupt.  
  
“Why on earth would you suppose that?”  
  
“Anything’s possible.” She shrugged, finally letting the comment go and starting her diatribe about the last week of hell she had just spent in Morocco.  
  
It was all Daniel could do to keep a civil tongue in his head as his mind kept replaying over and over again Betty’s impromptu leaving and Gabriella’s pointed supposition. If she could tag onto it so quickly then would Garry also pick up on it too? Daniel only hoped that he could. Besides he was out of time and options, he needed to do something about this and he needed to do it now.  
  
.oOo.  
  
“Hey Betty.” Daniel said as soon as Betty had answered her phone.  
  
 _“Daniel?”_  She yawned,  _“are you ok?”_  
  
“I woke you, I’m sorry. I’ll call back tomorrow.”  
  
 _“No, no. You know I’d never settle back down until I know you’re ok.”_  She paused,  _“so, are you?”_  
  
“Not really. I broke up with Gabriella.”  
  
 _“Wow! Why?”_  
  
“I didn’t love her, Betty. And she was pushing for a ring.”  
  
 _“How long had you been together?”_  
  
“Nearly two years.”  
  
 _“Oh, Daniel. I’m sorry.”_  
  
“Don’t be,” he said, “you see, there’s this other woman.”  
  
 _“Daniel Meade, what are you up to?”_  
  
“Nothing, just listen to me.” He sighed. “I’ve been in love with this woman … for years.”  
  
 _“Do I know her?”_  
  
“In a manner of speaking.”  
  
 _“Molly, you still love Molly.”_  
  
“What? Yes. Wait, no.”  
  
 _“Er, that doesn’t make sense, Daniel.”_  
  
“No, I know. Of course I still love Molly, I always will but that’s not it. There’s someone else.”  
  
 _There was a long pause before she asked, “who?”_  
  
“You!” God he hated it when she was silent, “Betty?”  
  
 _“Oh God.”_  
  
“Betty? Do you feel the same way?”  _Please say yes._  
  
 _“Yes,”_ she said it so quietly he had a job to here.  
  
“Really?”  
  
 _“Yes,”_ she said more loudly, giggling,  _“yes, Daniel. I’m in love with you. I’m coming over, are you still in that Godforsaken loft of yours?”_  
  
“Yes?” He laughed.  
  
 _“That mural better be painted over.” She teased him._  
  
“It is, Betty. It has been for a very long time.” He looked around at the mess from his near two day book read. “On second thoughts, the maid hasn’t been by today. Can I come to you?”  
  
 _“Yes. Is there anything you want me to order from room service?”_  
  
He tugged on his coat, picked up his wallet and keys, closed the door shut as he ran for the elevator. “How about some Champagne? Strawberries and cream?”  
  
 _“Daniel, have I once suggested that you’re going to get lucky tonight?”_  
  
He could hear the playfulness in her voice. “I just want to be with you Betty, try and work this all out, talk about what we’re going to do next. Talk about Garry, and then maybe kiss you. Once at least, if you’ll let me.” He flagged down a taxi, “where are you staying?”  
  
 _“At the Peninsula, I’ll let the front desk know to expect you.”_  
  
“Swanky.” He said to Betty. “The Peninsula, please?”  
  
 _“Daniel Mede, have you just got into a cab?”_  
  
“Needs must, Betty. I’ll see you soon.”  
  
 _“I’m looking forward to my one kiss.”_  
  
“So am I, Betty. So am I.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Daniel took a deep breath before rapping his knuckles against the wooden door. This would be their first meeting since his telling Betty how he felt about her and he really hoped that it would go well.  
  
The door opened wide, the smile on her face ecstatic which only grew wider, if that was at all possible, once he’d handed over the bunch of flowers that he’d managed to pick up on his way over. “They’re beautiful, Daniel. Thank you, you remembered how much I loved Gerbera daisies.”  
  
“How could I possibly forget? Especially when you always mentioned it every time Harold gave you any.” He teased. “I had to crash three weddings in order to get those.”  
  
“Well that’s a relief,” she giggled, “I must say I missed this particular Daniel at dinner. Why were you so nervous again?”  
  
He followed her into the lavish foyer of her suite, before closing the door behind him. “I think you know why, Miss Suarez?” He said light heartedly, watching her put on a coat over the pullover and jeans that she was wearing. “Are we going out?”  
  
“Well, I’m still on London time and I missed dinner earlier, thanks to your ex.” Eyeing him suspiciously, she added, “she is still your ex, isn’t she?”  
  
“Yes, very much so.” He surveyed the room in front of him, it was lavish but comfortable, homely even. He’d have to make a mental note to use this place next time he was nursing a cold. “Tell me you didn’t pay for this?”  
  
“I didn’t pay for this,” she deadpanned before looking him square in the eye. “Daniel, would I? If I’d had my way I’d be at home sleeping under my Little Mermaid comforter. The publisher paid for this.”  
  
“You mean Gerry.”  
  
“Garry owns the company, yes. Now come on,” she passed him on the way to the door, grabbing at his hand, “I need you to feed me. There’s an all-night diner a couple of blocks down, we can go there. Neutral territory.” He had to wonder what she meant by that comment.  
  
As they walked down the couple of blocks to the diner they talked amiably as if the last five years and his little declaration had never happened. “Did you ever call that bridesmaid, by the way?” Betty asked playfully.  
  
“Which one?” He responded, “you know I have a thing for pretty girls in satin dresses, and I already told you I crashed three parties this evening so far.” He joked, seeing her smile.  
  
“You know which one, that night you were meant to meet Gisele.”  
  
“Oh, right. The night you saved me. The night we ended up on the Brooklyn Bridge.”  
  
He caught her watching him intently. “Yeah, that night.” She paused, “we never did meet up back on the bridge.”  
  
“No. We didn’t. And no I didn’t.” He saw the confusion on her face, “call that bridesmaid, that is.”  
  
“Oh, really?”  
  
“Why do you sound so incredulous?” He asked.  
  
“She was really pretty, Daniel.”  
  
“And I wasn’t in the right place, Betty.” He held the door of the diner open for her and followed her to a booth out of the way at the back of the café, taking a seat opposite her. Once they’d ordered something to eat and drink Daniel, cleared his throat. “So, about our telephone conversation.”  
  
“What about it?” She hung her head.  
  
“Betty don’t toy with me, please.” He reached across the table taking her hands into his, smoothing the soft warm skin, entreating her to look up at him. “I told you I’m in love with you.”  
  
Her eyes found his, searching them for he knew not what. “How long have you known?”  
  
“The day you told me you were leaving, or rather when everyone got that email from Marc.”  
  
“But you seemed so together.”  
  
“Betty, I wasn’t. I was dying inside. There were things said at your sister’s wedding that made me realise that there could’ve been something between us but then you were going, and I had to sign your release and I …”  
  
She reached across the table, her soft hand smoothing over the stubble on his cheek, “and Gabriella?”  
  
“Was a distraction. I thought she’d help me forget you. And she did, for a while, but when I saw your poster in Barnes and Noble yesterday all of those old feelings came up and bit my ass. And then when I saw you, and read your dedication.”  
  
“You read the dedication?”  
  
“Of course I did,” he smiled, “I’m even reading your damn book. You really know how to tear a guy apart, you know?”  
  
She looked down into the coffee cup that had been placed in front of her. “I’m sorry, Daniel.”  
  
“So? What about what you said to me?” He asked quietly.  
  
“I love you, but I …”  
  
“But what Betty?”  
  
She closed her eyes, “I love Garry. I owe him so much.”  
  
Daniel shook his head, his brows furrowed. “That isn’t a reason to love someone, Betty. It’s like me settling for a woman I don’t love.”  
  
“No, it’s not! I do love him.”  
  
“Really?” Daniel exclaimed, an eyebrow raised. “I think I know you well enough to realise that if you truly love Gerry …”  
  
“Garry! Why can you never get my boyfriends’ names right?”  
  
“Because they mean nothing to me, especially when it’s me you should be with.”  
  
“You’ve got some nerve, Meade.” She spat out.  
  
“If you loved him …” He tried to carry on.  
  
“What on earth would make me run to you after the things I’ve seen you do to other women?”  
  
“Shut up.”  
  
“Even Molly, I know you loved her but you didn’t really want to marry her.”  
  
“Shut up will you.” His voice as angry as hers. “If you loved him …”  
  
“What Daniel,” she cried out, “if I loved him?”  
  
He took her left hand in between his own, “where’s his ring?”  
  
She pulled away from him, sliding out of her seat and knocking coffee all over the table, “Betty?” he called out after her, watching her rush out into the night whilst he fumbled through the bills in his wallet to find something to cover the tab. Thankfully it didn’t take him too long to catch up with her, grabbing her arm and pushing her softly up against a nearby wall. “Betty, I’m sorry.”  
  
“No, you’re not.” She cried, tears falling over her cheeks.  
  
He brushed them gently away with his thumbs, “ok, I’m not. But I’d be a bit pissed off if I’d given you a very special ring and you weren’t wearing it right now like you were yesterday when Garry was in town.”  
  
“It’s complicated, Daniel.”  
  
He laughed, “you told me that once before, but I can’t fire you this time.”  
  
“No, you can’t.” She laughed despite her tears, “I just have to work out what it is that I want. I do need our friendship though, so please let me have that at least.”  
  
“Of course.” He let go of her arm, “you know you’ll always have that.” He looked at her, his eyes holding onto hers as he realised he had to do something. “You know you loved me a lot longer than I loved you if that book of yours is to be believed.” He sighed, before adding, “I’m really sorry but I’m going to have to make things considerably more complicated for you.” He leant towards her, a hand at her waist, the other at her neck, his mouth finally finding hers and delivering the sweetest kiss he’d ever given anyone. His heart skipped a beat as soon as he felt her respond to him, her hands running up his chest and round his neck, pulling him closer, deepening the kiss further.  
  
He couldn’t take anymore. If he did he would end up doing exactly what Alexis had suggested he do by carrying Betty off to her suite and he knew damn well that if he did that, Betty would never thank him for it. Breaking the kiss, he leant his forehead against hers, listening to her raspy pants as she tried to control her breathing. “I love you, Betty Suarez, with all of my heart.” He whispered, “And you always knew it, even before I did. You and your book.” He stepped back, finally finding the courage to break eye contact with her. “You know where I am, when you finally decide what it is that you want. I’ll be waiting.”  
  
He spun away from her, hailed a cab and got in. He turned back to watch her hunched up figure walk back towards the hotel through the rear windscreen of the cab. He knew he shouldn’t have left her like that but it wasn’t far from the hotel and she was, after all, a girl from Queens who had managed to live quite happily on her own for five years in London too. She would be fine. He only wished he could say the same for himself.

.oOo.

_The first time that I realised that my feelings for Peter Howard were not exactly purely professional came as somewhat of a surprise, especially considering that at the time I was still chasing what I thought was ‘love’ in a doomed relationship. In four weeks Andrew would be leaving for the West Coast, with his baby mama and their child and I would be left broken hearted by him for the second time in two years. In truth, Andrew was my first love and I was blinkered to the reality that our relationship was never truly meant to be. But I was young and prone to making mistakes, mistakes I had yet to learn from._  
  
 _And, at exactly the same time, Peter had found someone that he thought he loved; Angelique’s sister, Monique._  
  
 _To say that their relationship was tempestuous would be a lie, it only became that once I was brought into the mix and as Peter’s assistant it was my job to make sure that he stuck to the tightly packed schedule that I was keeping for him. We were at one of our busiest times of the year, meetings upon meetings with promoters and marketing; interviews with many of the world’s most prestigious music magazines; new signings; rehashed careers; it was a whirlwind of activity and there was no room for his and her massages or a visit to a chiropractor._  
  
 _But it wasn’t so much the fact that I was having to keep rescheduling appointments for him so that little miss girlfriend’s extra-curricular activities could be found a spot for; other than the constant calls and texts that I kept receiving from her. Not only was I having to deal with rearrangements but I was also having to deal with her jealousy, and when I tried speaking to Peter about it he merely asked that I did what I could to keep her happy because he really liked her._  
  
 _The problem was that she was becoming irrational, and I couldn’t keep a handle on her. Something was wrong and I needed to find out what._  
  
 _It occurred to me that maybe Angelique had the information I needed but rather than go straight to the source, I knew I had someone on the inside. And someone who had already fed me a little knowledge – Geri._  
  
 _Being Angelique’s surrogate, Geri had been forced to move into the diva’s apartment until it was proved positive that the baby Geri was carrying for Angelique was indeed growing successfully inside her womb. Geri was effectively under house arrest and had already encountered Monique’s temper; a lit candle for Geri’s relaxation had seen Monique stub it out repeating an angry mantra to herself which Geri found rather worrying, ‘no candles’. This had obviously intrigued Geri, and from that moment on she did everything that she could to find out any little titbit on Monique and pass the news on to me._  
  
 _So, one afternoon, when I had had more than my fill of Monique and I knew that Geri had been left on her own, I found my way over to Angelique’s apartment. We took to searching her bedroom, for we knew from previous experience that that was where she kept her most valuable intelligence. There were folders marked with famous names, filled with dirt on each and every one of them. Then we found one for a Maude Montgomery._  
  
 _Knowing that Angelique had formerly been named Alma Montgomery we had to surmise that this was indeed Monique’s folder. Opening up the manila binder we scoured through the paperwork; a newspaper clipping about a man that died in a fire, a photograph of Monique with a man that we recognised from the same newspaper story, another clipping regarding the man’s good work at the hospital where he was employed and an admittance form for Monique into that very same hospital as an inpatient to the psychiatric ward. It appeared that Monique had fallen in love with her doctor and then taken it upon herself to torch his home because she believed he was having an affair. She hoped to trap the ‘other’ woman in the blaze but instead she ended up killing her lover. And the woman she believed he was having an affair with was his secretary. “Peter!” I screamed._  
  
 _I left Geri to tidy up as I went in search of my boss; the receptionist at Hipster, Suzanna, was being particularly evasive when I tried to reach Peter. Having already tried his mobile phone several times without him picking up I was starting to get worried, Suzanna obviously deciphering this eventually in order to tell me that Monique had turned up at Hipster, a full scale fall out ensuing in the middle of a meeting; Monique having called the three members of Diamond Dogz, Peter’s whores. Suzanna then informed me that Peter had left the office for the day._  
  
 _My heart was in my mouth as I raced across Manhattan, finally reaching Peter’s apartment and banging on the door, crying out his name. I tried the handle, the door opening easily and soon I was inside the corridor that ran the length of his home, candles lining the walls. I walked slowly, unsure of what I would find there. And that’s when the door slammed behind me._  
  
 _I turned, Monique was there, her back to the door, her face full of hatred for me. “Peter's mine, Lily and I'm not gonna let you have him.” She obviously saw me as a threat._  
  
 _I looked for an exit, a way to get away from all the candles but there was nothing. “Monique, this … this is all a … a terrible misunderstanding.”_  
  
 _She was backing me up into Peter’s bedroom, “I see how you look at him, how you talk to him.”_  
  
 _Somehow I managed to get up onto the bed, it felt a little bit safer and could’ve aided in my attempt at running out of there if she’d just move to one side or the other, “No. No, no. No, I … I talk to him like this. ‘Hi, Peter. It's Lily.’ See? That's normal.”_  
  
 _She rushed forward knocking a large cream church candle from the table and onto the floor, “then why are you doing everything to keep him away from me? You answer his phone. Lily, you control his appointments.”_  
  
 _I tried to make a run for it, “I'm his assistant. That is what assistants do.” But by the time I reached the hall a fire had started at the entrance into the bedroom._  
  
 _She circled around me like a lion stalking a gazelle. “He sleeps with his assistants!”_  
  
 _She grabbed a letter opener whilst I grabbed out for anything, I found a candle snuffer, “Monique, I have a boyfriend, Andrew, who I love very, very much.”_  
  
 _“Then why are you spending all of your days and all of your nights at work with my boyfriend?”_  
  
 _She backed me up again, the snuffer dropping to the floor as she took a lunge at my throat. “Uh, maybe because it's, uh, it's a really busy time, or, uh, maybe there are some things that I don't wanna talk to Andrew about.”_  
  
 _“So you're lying to him?” I shook my head. “You're a liar.”_  
  
 _I kept shaking my head. “No. No. Andrew is leaving for California, so I don't really want him to know about Leo.”_  
  
 _“Leo? Who's Leo?” Her anger was switched for confusion momentarily._  
  
 _“He's this other guy.” I half smiled, hoping the tension would dissipate, “Andrew's a little jealous of him. He punched him. It's complicated.” I noticed that my phone was ringing on the bed, if only I could get to it._  
  
 _The letter opener was still dangerously close to my chest. “So you have two guys. Isn't that enough?”_  
  
 _I managed to get to my phone as she lunged forward, “hello? Peter, its Lily! I'm in your apartment.  
Monique's crazy. She's trying to kill me! Help me! Hurry!” She knocked the phone from my hand, “I swear to you, I don't want Peter.” I tried to reason with her. “And you only think I do, because of some weird little jealousy thing you've got going on.”_  
  
 _“Why shouldn't I be jealous? He's my boyfriend, Lily.”_  
  
 _I carried on, unperturbed. “Yes. Yes, I understand that. See … see, my boyfriend, Andrew, he got … got his ex-girlfriend pregnant, so I spend a lot of time being really jealous of Sam.”_  
  
 _“Sam? There's another guy?”_  
  
 _“No, no, no. That's a girl.” Jeez this was hard work._  
  
 _“Stop it! Stop telling me these things.”_  
  
 _She had a point, I couldn’t seem to focus straight when I just kept telling her stuff that meant nothing really. “Ok. Alright.” I held up my hands, “Monique, you don't want to make this worse than it already is.” I started, noticing that the drapes had now caught fire and it was all going to make escape even more improbable. “Monique, the apartment is on fire. We need to get out of here.”_  
  
 _“You are not going anywhere.” She sneered. “You will never take Peter away from me, ever again.”_  
  
 _I sighed, exasperated with her, “I didn't take Peter from you. You made this all up in your head. You are so afraid to lose him that you can't see what's real.” I paused, “I am just his assistant. Peter loves you.”_  
  
 _“What?”_  
  
 _“He loves you.”_  
  
 _“You think Peter loves me?”_  
  
 _“Yes.” I said once more to make my point clear. “He loves you. I … can … I can see it in his eyes and the … and the way he talks about you. Monique, it's what's real. Peter loves you.”_  
  
 _“I don't know what's wrong with me, Lily. Nothing makes sense anymore.” She cried out dropping the letter opener. I took her hand but she wouldn’t move. She sat down on the edge of the bed, her head dropped in front of her. So it was up to me once again._  
  
 _Now where would Peter keep a fire extinguisher? The kitchen one would hope but I had little chance of getting there unscathed even with a blanket covering my head. Where could I get to? The closet and the bathroom. I tried the closet first, rifling through the suit filled hangers into the deepest recesses but there was nothing there. I ran across in front of Monique, who was now weeping, to what I suspected was the bathroom. After all, it wasn’t like I spent a huge amount of time in Peter’s apartment and when I did, I never ventured much further than the living room._  
  
 _I opened the door to a home gymnasium. I looked around and spotted what I was looking for, pulling on the hose and opening up the syphon, distinguishing flames as I went. It didn’t seem to take too long to get the fire under control and as I’d dispersed the last of the flames, Peter hammered through his front door with another extinguisher, the door jamb splintering with the force._  
  
 _There was relief on his face but he never said a word as I looked up after the last blast of CO2. I wanted to keep things light, wanted to take away the tension but all I could think of to say was, “you don’t pay me enough!”_  
  
 _Angelique rushed past both of us and into the smoking rooms, never stopping until she’d pulled her sister up from the bed, outside of the apartment and into the hallway._  
  
 _In one great rush, I dropped the canister by my feet and felt my legs go beneath me. If Peter got to me and picked me up, I’ll never know, but the next thing I knew I was sat outside the apartment, a blanket around my shoulders, talking to a paramedic. I signed his report and then just sat there as Monique apologised to me before being led away by the police, Angelique advising her sister that she would get her the help she needed._  
  
 _I noticed Peter sit beside me but didn’t acknowledge it. I was too caught up with the events of that night rolling around in my head to think of anything or anyone else at that point. That was until the tears started. My body racked, tiny rivulets silently spilling over my cheeks. The adrenaline that had kept me going was all but gone. In seconds Peter’s arms were around me, holding me to him, trying to calm me with his soothing words. “I’m so sorry, Peter.” I wailed._  
  
 _“Lily, you have nothing to be sorry for.”_  
  
 _“But I do, if I hadn’t rushed over here to try to find you then none of this would’ve happened.”_  
  
 _Despite everything, he finally smiled. “I’m lucky to have such a good friend looking out for me. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” And there was that declaration again._  
  
 _I smiled through my tears, taking off my glasses and rubbing my eyes with the sleeves of my dress. He smoothed down my hair and wiped the last remnants of salty water from my face with his thumbs. “I think I should go home.” I got up to stand, still feeling a little wobbly but he caught hold of me easily and pulled me into his embrace._  
  
 _“I’ll get you a car.”_  
  
 _“Peter, it’s not necessary.”_  
  
 _“Please let me do this, I couldn’t let you go home on public transport after what you’ve done for me. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you. At least I’ll know that you got home safe and sound.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and called for a car before helping me down to the front door and into the back of the waiting Lincoln._  
  
 _“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said._  
  
 _“Lily, have the day off.”_  
  
 _“Thank you but no. I’ll be fine tomorrow, just need a good night’s sleep and I’ll be right as rain.”_  
  
 _“Ok, but don’t worry if you’re a little late.”_  
  
 _“Thanks, Peter.”_  
  
 _“Goodnight, Lily.”_  
  
 _“Goodnight,” I replied, sitting back against the seat and letting my eyes shut, thankful for the leather cushions that seemed to cuddle me the whole way home, even if they were slightly cool. By the time I got home my family already knew what had happened, Peter having called them ahead of my arrival, and were waiting for me on the front porch. My driver, who was obviously aware that I had slept most of the way home, insisted that he help me inside, cradling me up into his arms effortlessly and depositing me in my bedroom. To this day, I still believe that Peter had made that happen for me, making certain that I not only got home but was safely ensconced within it so that he had no need to worry about me._  
  
 _I slept soundly, never waking until the bright morning sunshine hit my face through the parting of the ill fitted curtains and the unclosed blind behind them. I looked over to the alarm clock that my sister must have switched off and realised that it was my usual waking hour but that I would take my time this morning. Besides Iris had also attached a post it note over my graduation photo offering to take a look at my singed hair and sort it out for me before I ventured out of the house._  
  
 _An hour later and I was in a chair, my hair having a good couple of inches being taken off the length all around and with a few necessary layers added into the cut. When I saw the result of my sister’s handiwork I was a little shocked at how much better it appeared. I thanked her for making it look a lot better than the fuzzy mess it was in even before I fell asleep in the car. I hugged her before picking up my bag. “And where do you think you’re going?” My mother asked._  
  
 _“To work, mami.”_  
  
 _Iris’ eyebrows raised a good two inches, “Peter didn’t give you the day off?”_  
  
 _“He tried, but I refused … I really think he needs a friend today.”_  
  
 _They looked at one another knowingly, “see you later then mija.” They said together as I walked from the house and out onto the street, taking my way to work a little more easier than I would normally do and still stopping by Peter’s favourite coffee house in order to pick up his usual order._  
  
 _Once I arrived at my desk and dropped off my things, I gingerly went into Peter’s office with his coffee and bagel, “are you ok?”_  
  
 _“I don't know.” He looked back at me briefly before going back to watching whatever had caught his attention outside. “As long as you're ok.”_  
  
 _I placed the cup and bag on the small coffee table, “Peter, you know you're gonna be fine.” I walked towards him, “you are handsome, and you're successful and kind.” He turned to face me then, the look on his face pensive, as if he was really contemplating what I was saying. “You'll find someone worthy of you.”_  
  
 _“I just really loved her.” My heart went out to him so I patted him on the shoulder. “You know, Suzanna says I need to be more sensitive, and she's right, so I'm not gonna talk about this in front of you. I’m sorry.” He walked towards the table picking up his cup and dropping down into the seat._  
  
 _“Sensitive?” I asked. “What do you mean?” I rotated on my spot._  
  
 _“Well, you know.” He shrugged, sipping at his coffee._  
  
 _“Um, no, I don't know.” I took a few paces towards him, “you mean, 'cause Andrew's leaving?”_  
  
 _“Come on, Lily.” He fidgeted in his seat, finally feeling most comfortable crossing his legs, “I know you have a crush on me.”_  
  
 _“What?” I was stunned._  
  
 _“Look, it was bound to happen. We're just gonna have to work through it together.”_  
  
 _He took a deep breath as I attempted to conceal my mirth, “Yeah.” I started moving closer, “you're right. I love you.” I tried to sound as sexually convincing as I could without laughing out loud, “I've always loved you. I can't stop thinking about you.”_  
  
 _“You're making fun of me.”_  
  
 _“No. No,” I smirked, “I mean, I just … I wish I could be your morning bagel so I could get caught between your beautiful, beautiful teeth.” I sniggered, watching the faintest smile twitch at his lips. “Come on. You know I love you, but not like that.” Or so I thought, even with the face I made. “Oh, there's the guy I do love, and I need to go talk to him, so can I be excused, please?”_  
  
 _Peter nodded, slightly embarrassed by his earlier outburst, “yeah.” I patted his shoulder for good measure as I made my way out of his office and to my desk where I spoke to Andrew about Leo. Our apologies over with, I stood on my tiptoes, my arms reaching around Andrew’s neck and kissing him, immediately unaware that Peter had made his way to his desk and was now watching us. It wasn’t until I slid back down to my normal height, resting my head against Andrew’s chest that I caught Peter’s observation, the strangest look upon his face, almost as if he was a little sad that my crush wasn’t factual. His eyes met mine, staring at me with an expression that I had only ever seen him use for those girls that he really liked, loved even. Surely he could never love me, not in that way._  
  
 _I sent Andrew off with another smile and a kiss, feeling somewhat immoral under Peter’s continued scrutiny, as if I was somehow cheating on him, his face only brightening when Andrew disappeared. Was it possible that he had a crush on me? I decided that my best course of action was just to get on with my work, hopefully that would make the day pass by quickly and once I was home for the weekend I could then consider how this all could’ve come about._  
  
 _But the truth was that no matter how long I mulled over the events post the fire, I still couldn’t fathom whether or not Peter was disappointed with my revelation that I didn’t have a passing infatuation with him. Sure I was curious, there had been so many women that I couldn’t help but wonder what it was about him that they all fell for. But then I knew that he would never use any of those tricks on me. Not only because I was nothing like his normal type of bedfellow but also because he knew I knew him well enough to see right through them and call him up on them._  
  
 _However, my curiosity peaked, I couldn’t stop the dreams that came to haunt me every night until Monday morning came around. The steamy escapades that my mind was fantasising about were nothing like the wham bam nights with my first boyfriend or the sweet but kind of boring sex I was mainly experiencing with Andrew. Where these ideas were coming from were anybody’s guess, I hadn’t even encountered anything like what Peter and I were getting up to in my visualisations, he was obviously bringing out the worst in me. Although the way I ended up feeling could never be considered bad._  
  
 _I had Andrew, I loved Andrew, what was I doing thinking about being with Peter? My boss, I kept reminding myself. Peter was only my friend, a very good friend admittedly, but a friend nonetheless. But as soon as I reached my desk that first day back after the weekend, I realised I was in trouble. Peter purposefully strode towards me, the dark blue denim of his pants clinging to his hips, the lighter blue of the thin cashmere V necked sweater he was wearing heightening the cobalt of his eyes, the pullover sleeves pushed up to his elbows as if he had been working for several hours already revealing his well-toned forearms. I tried centring my attention on the screen of my PC, gulping back the anxiety towards my acute observations and how they were making me feel as he left a few letters on my desk and gave me several tasks for me to complete that morning. “By the way, I love what you’ve done to your hair, it suits you better.” He gestured, his eyes twinkling as he smiled._  
  
 _I smiled up at him briefly, my eyes then focussing on his jean clad butt as he walked back into his office. “Oh my God,” I whispered, berating myself silently._  
  
 _I had to focus, had to stop from doing this to myself because I knew that bed was one place Peter and I would never meet. Yeah, we were a great team but that really would be a step too far. I shook my head; Andrew, that’s what I needed, more time with Andrew. With steely determination I dialled his number, “Andrew,” I said, “we really need to spend some quality time together without Sam messing things up for us all of the time. So, how about a nice romantic meal together, in your apartment, tonight?”_  
  
 _I was like a lamb to the slaughter, but I had to wonder on whose chopping board I was going to end up on, with my still beating heart ripped out for the world to see._  
  
“Holy crap,” Daniel exclaimed, “I’ve let her down so many times, no wonder she doesn’t want anything to do with me.” He closed the tome, throwing it down onto the couch beside him before rubbing his face with his hands. “What the hell have I done? And boy, was I self-centred.”  
  
Reading for so long had taken its toll on him, he needed rest to recharge his batteries and the last thing he wanted to do was sleep on the couch again. Getting to his feet he made his way through the loft turning off the lights as he went, pulling the t-shirt up and over his head as he went to make sure that his front door was secure and then found his way into his bedroom. His thumb and finger at the top button of his jeans, he suddenly heard a knock at his door. He looked at the clock, one forty three. Who would be calling at this hour?  
  
He decided to ignore it, unbuttoning the first button, it was probably some inebriated female that he’d known in his playboy days wanting to hook up. It wasn’t the first and, he was sure, wouldn’t be the last time that that would happen. His hand was reaching for the next button on his fly as he heard a second sharp rap, “Daniel?” Her voice quiet so as not to wake his neighbours but it was still unmistakable.  
  
“Betty?” He moved back out into the hall, checking the peephole before opening the door up, “what are you doing here?” He held the door open for her allowing her to cross the threshold before closing the door and securing it again. “It’s nearly two o’clock.”  
  
Noticing her eyes were focussed on his unbuttoned waistband he realised that he was still in a state of undress. “Shit, sorry!” He said, hastily re-buttoning his jeans and walking back into the bedroom to retrieve his t-shirt and put it back on. Once back in the hall, he motioned for her to move into his living room, rushing around her once they got there in order to pick up some trash and sort out the mess that he’d left before he’d decided to go to bed. “Here, take a seat. Do you want anything to drink?” He called from the kitchen as he placed the trash in the can.  
  
“No, thanks.” She looked around her, fidgeting, “I guess you were just going to bed,” she started to get back up, “I should go.”  
  
“You just got here. And if you think I’m letting you go back out there without knowing there’s a car waiting downstairs to take you back to your hotel, you’ve got another think coming.” He said, “I’ve done that once tonight, I’m not going to do that again.” He sat in the chair adjacent to where she was sitting, not trusting himself to sit next to her. “What’s going on?”  
  
“I … I …,” she began chewing on her thumbnail. “I’ve been wandering around for ages, thinking about everything.”  
  
“Not since I left you earlier on?” He watched her nod her head, “why would you do that?”  
  
“I don’t know,” she cried out, looking directly at him. He noticed that her cheeks were stained with tears and mascara, “It’s all so complicated. Can I use your bathroom?”  
  
“Of course,” remembering the passage he’d just finished reading, he smiled to himself. “You know where it is?”  
  
She wandered off through the bedroom and out of sight, so he decided to tidy up just a little more, taking hold of her book and placing it on his bookshelf out of the way. He looked at his watch, she’d been in his bathroom a good while. Wandering back through his home, he made his way into the gym before knocking on the door, “Betty? Honey? Are you ok in there?”  
  
“Yes.” Came the teary response, then, “no.”  
  
Closing his eyes at hearing her pain, he leant against it, his hands up against the door frame. “Talk to me, please?” He implored.  
  
He could hear her moving around within the room, the splashing of water, a period of quiet when he assumed that she must have been drying her face before he heard the lock turn and the door begin to open. She walked past him, “I should go.”  
  
“Haven’t we already had that conversation?” He asked playfully, attempting to lighten the mood.  
  
“This room looks great, considering everything.” She said, her face brightening when she realised that the mural had indeed gone, another victim of the fire that Renee had started.  
  
“I don’t think you came here to talk about the redecoration of my apartment after the fire.”  
  
He began walking back out to the living room but she didn’t follow, choosing to sit on the end of his bed instead. “You know I often wondered what it would be like to be here,” she traced her hand over the expensive Egyptian cotton of his bedding, “as your woman.”  
  
Had he just heard her right? “Betty, you’re not making much sense.”  
  
“I went to the bridge tonight, our bridge.” She smiled sadly, “remembered our conversation as if it had happened yesterday, and I realised something.”  
  
“What?” He whispered, sitting down next to her.  
  
She looked up at him, “that you were right.”  
  
“I was?”  
  
Holding her left hand up between them, she stared at the bare ring finger intently, “if there wasn’t trouble in paradise then I would be wearing Garry’s ring. Right?” She reached forward, her fingers gently grazing his stubble encrusted cheek. “I love you, Daniel.”  
  
His breath caught in his throat as a result of the contact of her hand against his skin, “And I love you, Betty.”  
  
“My relationship with Garry is complicated, I need time to get out of it.” He began to say something but she put her finger up to his mouth in order to stop him. “I don’t know how long it will take, I don’t know what will happen, but I do know I need you to be there for me, helping me, trusting me to do the right thing, loving me when I need you.”  
  
“What are you asking of me?”  
  
“To be patient with me. To understand that I will eventually become yours despite outward appearances.”  
  
“Are you asking me to be the other man?”  
  
“No! I would never ask you to …” He cut her off with a kiss so tender that the moan she elicited was his undoing.  
  
“I’d do it.” He said sincerely, “after everything we’ve been through I could never deny you anything.”  
  
She smiled, “thank you, but I don’t think sleeping with you would be very wise.”  
  
“Oh, I wasn’t just thinking about sleeping with you, Betty. I was thinking more about making love to you. I want to show you exactly how I feel about you.”  
  
“Daniel, I don’t … think …” His lips were at her neck, her chin, her cheeks, his hands splaying around her waist, drawing her closer to him.  
  
“Be my woman, let me adore you, cherish you, love you.” His lips found hers, his teeth nipping at her upper lip.  
  
“And tomorrow? What happens then?”  
  
“We join forces, you tell me exactly what kind of a hold Garry has over you and we’ll work out a plan of attack.”  
  
She drew back from him, “that’s not what I meant, exactly.” Her eyes downcast.  
  
“Do you honestly believe that I just want you in my life for one night?” His fingers were at her chin drawing her face up to his. “We had a long courtship, Betty. I want to make good on it.”  
  
“But so much has changed in the last five years.”  
  
“No, the things that really matter haven’t changed. I love you. You love me. We both made the biggest mistake of our lives when you left, I realise that.” He paused, sighing. “Don’t you?”  
  
“I didn’t really know who I was five years ago, I’d already changed so much by then.”  
  
“Well, I still know you. As far as I’m concerned your still Betty, the girl from Queens, who crashed into my life, forgave my every ill, and loved me despite my shallow behaviour. You bought out the best in me with your judgey butterfly looks and your compassion. I disappointed you so many times but you still found a way to keep on loving me. I’m just sorry it took me so long to work out that the person I needed most was right there in front of me all along.” His hand caressed her cheek. “If we only get tonight, then …” He faltered, unsure of what else to say.  
  
Tears glistened along her lower lashes, she blinked in order to let them cascade down before leaning into his touch. He pulled her into his lap holding her tightly to him, his mouth by her ear, “why did you come here tonight?”  
  
“I want you.” She stated, pushing back from him and looking deeply into his eyes. “I’ve never wanted anyone as much.”  
  
“Are you sure?” He asked gently, he watched her nod her head and smile. Falling backwards onto the bed he quickly turned them over so that she was lying beneath him, his lips on hers, his hands falling to her waist to undo the belt of her coat. Her hand rested on his momentarily, steadying his movements, her eyes meeting his but for the first time ever he couldn’t read what was going on behind them.  
  
He let her get up, watching her as she moved across to the chair finishing the job he’d started before slipping the coat from off her shoulders. She lay it over the seat, slipping out of the flats she was wearing. She’d made a statement. She was definitely staying.  
  
He moved towards her, noticing the shy look that she was giving him from over her shoulder, was she intimidated by things she knew had gone on in this room before? “Betty, if it makes you feel any better I haven’t brought anyone back here in a good while.”  
  
“Not even Gabriella?”  
  
“No, I always went over to hers. She preferred it that way.”  
  
“Oh.” He pulled her round to face him. His hands in her hair brushing it back away from her face, leaning down to take her mouth with his own, the slow smouldering kiss building in intensity as she drew him closer to her, her hands splaying over his shoulder blades before moving down to his waist and pulling at the hem of his t-shirt, he moved his arms giving her the green light to remove it from him. Her hands roamed his naked chest and abdomen, fingers tracing the lines of his defined muscles, placing the faintest of kisses against his skin, lighting a fire within him that would only be extinguished with their ultimate united culmination.  
  
“Betty,” he growled, his hands reaching under the soft rose pink sweater she had on, lifting it up and delighting in feeling her warm, silky skin beneath it. Her hands were soon on his, encouraging him to help her out of it before reaching towards him and undoing the buttons of his fly as he gently caressed her shoulders, her back, the black lace covered breasts that he always knew were there but she had always hidden away.  
  
They sidled across to the bed, his hands opening up the button and zipper of her jeans and pushing the fabric down over her hips before silently urging her to sit down on the bed so that he could kneel in front of her and pull the pants from off her legs. He stood walking back to the chair to where their already discarded clothes had been laid down, dropping her jeans on the pile before discarding his own.  
  
He re-joined her back on the bed, drinking her underwear clad body in. She was so beautiful, sitting there watching him as intently as he was watching her, he gulped back the lump that had formed in his throat. This was it, this was the moment that he’d been waiting for for so long and now he was frozen to the spot, knowing that once they went past this point there was never any turning back for either of them.  
  
“Betty?” He shook his head, breaking eye contact with her momentarily, trying to regain his focus and by the time his eyes were back on hers she was reaching behind herself, unclipping her bra and allowing it to fall away in front of her, making the move that he was too afraid to make.  
  
“Daniel,” she whispered, moving closer to him and allowing the underwear to fall to the floor. Soon embroiled within another passionate kiss, his arms cradling her as he laid her down underneath him, his hands and lips covering every last inch of skin that he could reach, finally suckling on one puckering peak before finding the other and doing the same. His hands were under her back holding her to him as she arched her body, beginning to rock gently with his continuing assault, her hands in his hair, her shameless moans egging him on.  
  
But something plagued his mind, how was any of this right? If he continued with his seduction of her, he was putting them both in a terrible position and one that could potentially see him worse off than what he was now. He rolled off of her and onto the bed, his hands in his hair as he looked up towards the ceiling. “We can’t do this.” Betty stayed silent and by the time he trusted himself to look at her without taking to ravaging her again she had turned onto her side, facing away from him, her legs brought up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. “Betty?”  
  
The silence dragged on, whatever was going on in Betty’s head she certainly didn’t want to share it with Daniel. Placing a hand on her shoulder he noted the flinch, “Betty? Honey?”  
  
“Don’t call me that, Daniel. Quite clearly, I’m not your honey.” Her tone was sharp, cutting through him like a knife through butter and he could tell that she was upset. He sat up abruptly, wondering what to do.  
  
He turned towards her, “look at me.” He asked gently. She shook her head awkwardly. “Look at me, Betty,” he ordered, reaching over her prone body and pulling her around to face him, the tell-tale signs that she had been crying evident on her face as well as the counterpane behind her head. He shook his head, closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “God, Betty. I want nothing more than to be inside of you right now, feeling you writhe underneath me, clenching around me, us both spiralling out of control as we come, but I just can’t do that, to you or me. Tomorrow you’ll go back to him and I’ll be here, left wondering if you’ll ever come back to me again.” He sighed, “I think that would break me completely.” He felt the tear slide down his face but he did nothing to stop it.  
  
“I thought you wanted to make love to me, to have just this one night?”  
  
“I did, I do. But I have a feeling that when I wake up in the morning you’ll be gone, a note on the nightstand thanking me for everything and that you’ll be in touch.” He took her hands in his noticing the distracted look she was wearing. “That’s exactly what you were going to do.”  
  
“No,” she shook her head, “but I will have to get back to the hotel before five, Garry will be back from Boston around that time.” She placed her hand on his cheek, “do you remember what you said to me when Henry and I were thrown out of Wicked?”  
  
“Yeah, about having good judgement but that I couldn’t understand why you were being so stupid with Henry when you knew you were going to get your heart broken.”  
  
“Right. Well, when I got home, because quite frankly your words made some sense and I couldn’t bring myself to go home with Henry, I cried on Hilda’s shoulder. I’m sure you can remember what she said if you’ve read that far in my book.” She smirked.  
  
“I don’t remember that bit too well, I’m way past that bit.” He hung his head.  
  
“She said that ‘if someone told me I could have one more minute with Santos, do you think I would turn that down because it would hurt when it was over?’” She smiled up at him, “that’s when she reminded me that Henry loved me and asked what I was still doing at home. Loving Henry and having him leave me may not have been the most sensible thing to do but sometimes you just have to take a chance. Daniel, I love you, this situation isn’t ideal but you are my Santos. Yes, it’s going to hurt like hell when I have to leave but we have tonight. Please?” She pleaded.  
  
Despite every protestation that came to mind, he nodded his head. “Ok,” he said, his hands quickly securing around her waist and positioning her in the centre of the vast king sized bed. He lay over her, his mouth on hers in a passionate embrace as he helped her struggle out of her panties before freeing himself from his own. Her hands were around his hard length as soon as he had escaped his underwear making him groan, her fingers delicate stroking him as his hand felt down within her folds to ascertain whether or not she was ready for him.  
  
For the entire duration they hadn’t stopped kissing, not even as he manoeuvred himself between her legs and positioned himself at the entrance of her core. It was only at the moment that he entered her did they draw apart momentarily, their united moans signalling their delight at their coupling. The smile that spread across Betty’s face had Daniel’s heart pounding as her took her head in his hands and plundered her mouth once again and they began to stoke their united fire. They took things slowly, relishing the chaste kisses, the panting breaths, the wondrous glances, the smiles, the loving noises elicited that they were both a party to as they climbed the hill together at a leisurely pace. Daniel could honestly say that he had never felt this kind of a connection with any woman before and he hoped that it wouldn’t be the only time. He had to have Betty as his own, of that he was sure.  
  
They came as one, each calling out the other’s name in perfect unison as they peaked together, Daniel’s arms giving way beneath him as he pushed home one last time, pinning Betty beneath him as he tried to recover from the most incredible orgasm he had ever shared with anyone. When he caught his breath he leant up on his forearms, “are you ok?”  
  
She ran a hand through his sweat dampened hair, “are you kidding?” She giggled, “that was amazing. Thank you.”  
  
Her smile caused him to follow suit, “no, thank you.” He paused, “I knew that making love to a woman I was madly and passionately in love with would so be much better than the stuff I was used, but Betty, I have to say, that was mind-blowing, you were remarkable.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“Really. We make a fantastic team, you and I.” His face saddened a little at his statement.  
  
“Daniel, it won’t be forever. I’m yours, I always will be.” The finally drew apart, Daniel inviting Betty to get under the covers as he went to clean up in the bathroom. How long he had been in there staring at himself in the mirror, he couldn’t say but the faint tap on the door indicated that it must have been a while. “Are you ok? I was getting a little cold waiting for you to come back to bed.”  
  
“I’m great,” he lied, hoping that she wouldn’t catch him out. It was probably better if he just forgot about their troubles for the time being. He held out his hand for her to take. “What do you want to do now?” He asked.  
  
“I just want you to hold me,” she replied as he led her back to the bed, pulled back the covers for her and followed her in. He lay back, allowing Betty to entwine herself around him, his arms binding her to him and holding her close. “Are you sure you’re ok?” She asked sullenly.  
  
“Betty, I’m fine, honestly. A little sad that we only have tonight for the time being, but if being with you is as fantastic every time as it was that first time, then I am one very lucky man. I love you.” She ran a finger over his chest, he sighed as the most incredible feelings were awoken from that one small act. “Come here.”  
  
“Why?” She giggled.  
  
“I think you know why,” he growled, pulling her up to straddle his growing arousal. “We have one night, let’s make the most of it.”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Daniel awoke to find the bed cold and empty, he really hoped that Betty hadn’t confirmed his worst fears and left him just as he had suspected she would before they’d talked and made love for the first time. He sat up, stretched and looked over to the chair where they had discarded most of their clothing, her pink jumper peeking out from under the denim. At least she was still around, somewhere.

Pulling out a fresh pair of boxers and a t-shirt, he quickly dressed before going in search of her. After checking the bathroom he wandered out into the hallway and through to his living room. She was standing in his kitchen, hovering over the stove, a fish slice in one hand as she sang quietly to herself. “Hey, what are you up to?”

She jumped, startled out of her reverie by him, a shy smile hinting at her lips before concentrating on the job she was employed in. “I’m making breakfast.” She said casually.

“In my shirt, I see,” he teased, walking around the end of the counter, stopping behind her and snaking his arms around her waist from behind. “I didn’t think you could cook?” He kissed the crook of her neck, revelling in the scent of their lovemaking still mingling on her skin.

“I took a few lessons, learnt some basics and then bought a cookbook. I had some time on my hands once I’d finished at Dunne so decided that I really ought to know how. I couldn’t keep surviving off take-outs.” She flipped the toast over in the pan.

“So what are we having?” He asked, his hands disappearing under the hem of the silver grey dress shirt of his that she was wearing and over her hips, delighting in the fact that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

“Each other,” she gasped as his hands slipped effortlessly over her body, “if you carry on what you’re doing.” Turning her head, she captured his lips with her own. “Please let me do this for you? I promise you it will be worthwhile.”

Nodding and smiling, he stepped back out of the kitchen, taking a seat at the counter and silently watching her as she finished off making the French toast, put the slices onto a plate that was already piled high with fruit and drizzled over a generous amount of maple syrup. Picking up the plate and the cutlery that she had found for them, she stepped over to the counter and placed the plate in front of him. “I thought we could share?” She smiled up at him.

“Come and sit next to me then, unless you want to take this into the bedroom?” He asked suggestively.

He watched her roll her eyes and shake her head, despite the grin that had taken over her face. Holding out his hand to her, she took it, allowing him to guide her around the counter and into a seat next to him. She picked up the cutlery, cut off a corner from the bread and egg slice, loaded it with a piece of banana and a strawberry and fed him. “How is it?” She asked, expectantly.

He finished the morsel, “it’s good. Great, actually. Those lessons were definitely worthwhile.” He said, surprised at her efforts, “here, try some.” He said, mirroring Betty’s earlier actions, watching her intently as she drew the food from the fork into her mouth, chewing it and swallowing it. If there was anything sexier than watching her eat, then he didn’t know what it was, but this he loved, her actions causing him to shift in his seat to accommodate his growing discomfort.

“Oh, I nearly forgot,” Betty got up from her seat and began moving back into the kitchen, “I made us coffee, too.”

He grabbed her arm pulling her to him, “I don’t need coffee, Betty,” he said, offering her another forkful of food and watching her chew. “I need you.” Effortlessly, he picked her up and placed her in his lap, his mouth seeking hers and kissing her. She moaned, her fingers kneading the back of his head as they sunk into his hair, her body awakening and beginning to writhe. “I want you.”

Betty drew away from him, her hands already at his crutch, painfully aware that had the cotton of his shorts not been in the way they would have already become one. “I want you too,” she cried in frustration giving Daniel the impetus to cradle her behind with his hands and pick her up as he stood, before placing her onto the counter. Shedding himself of his underwear he grabbed her bottom and pulled her to him, sinking himself within her in one smooth motion. “Daniel,” she sighed, her legs circling his waist as his lips found her neck, her chin, her mouth.

“Betty,” he breathed, plunging within her again and again as he held onto her with everything that he had, “oh, God.” He yelled, spilling his seed within her whilst holding her close, attempting to recover as quickly as he could, “I’m sorry.”

“For what exactly?” She leant back, her eyes searching his.

“For being a bit quick,” he shrugged, “you didn’t even …”

Her kiss cut him off, “well, you’ll just have to make it up to me next time.” She smirked, allowing him to help her down from the side. She looked back at the plate of food that was now half on the counter and half on the floor, “well, I guess we’ve had breakfast.”

“Sorry for that too,” he laughed, “but I told you I didn’t need anything but you. At least until you have to go.” He looked away from her, “I thought you’d gone, you know, when I woke up. The bed was so cold and empty without you there with me.”

She closed the gap, her arms around his torso, “I told you I wouldn’t go.”

“I know, but I panicked.” His hands were in her hair, gently cradling her face, “I’m going to miss you.”

“Stop it, we still have another five hours. Can we please just enjoy our time together?”

He nodded and smiled sadly, “ok. So what’s the plan? Anything in particular you want to do?”

“Apart from have you make love to me, again and again,” she bit at her lower lip as she undid the top button of the shirt, “No.”

“Right!” He smirked, pulling her to him, “well I best get my act together and make sure the next couple of times count then. Come here missy,” he said, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder, “first off, I need to reprimand you for wearing my shirt, and then I need to tell you off for throwing your food around, that’s enough to be getting along with,” he said, smacking her on the butt and making her giggle as he carried her back to bed. She landed in the middle of the thick downy comforter as he threw her onto it, crawling over her and slowly stripping her of his shirt, his tongue swirling around her budding nipples. “I love you, Betty. I will always love you.” He said as he continued to assault her.

“Me too,” she said, responding to every last one of his caresses, a lone tear escaping from her eye and trailing over her cheek. “Always.” She whispered.

.oOo.

Daniel was brooding. He would have given anything to keep Betty with him, and he tried everything too. Sex, money, an assurance that she really didn’t have to go because he was sure he could buy Garry off, but it was all futile. She’d cried solidly for about half an hour and although he’d wanted to join her, he simply held her in his arms letting her weep until she could weep no more. They’d shared one last loving kiss and then she’d gone, dashing off down the hall and out of his life. As the elevator had shut out his last view of her, Daniel slammed his front door behind him, walked back to his bedroom and sank to his knees, the tears he had held onto for so long rapidly falling from his eyes. Hands down, this had had to be one of the worst things that had happened to him, even Molly’s death hadn’t caused so much heartache.

A call on his phone broke through his bleak musings, bringing him out of them momentarily and allowing him to focus on something else. For a start, he pulled the bed clothes from the bed and dropped them into the laundry basket in the bathroom. At least her faint scent was now absent from his bed even if their lovemaking was forever etched into his memory. He changed his clothes as well for good measure, also picking up the shirt that she had borrowed and depositing the dirty garments in with the bedding.

He then cleaned up his kitchen, dropping the scraps of food into the trash and putting all of the dirty cookware into the dishwasher, before taking a bottle of scotch and a glass out of the cupboard and walking back through into the lounge. He looked over to the counter where he had positioned and taken her at breakfast and closed his eyes, sighing as their antics played out before him. Walking over to the bookcase, he retrieved her book and sat down on the couch after pouring himself at least a treble measure of his drink of choice.

He sat back, the book in his lap as he opened up the pages to where the bookmark signified he had left off last time. There, stuck to the page was a post it note. _I’m glad you’ve got this far_ , it read, _and just remember, I had faith in you. Forever yours, B xx_.

“Ok, Betty, you have my faith,” he said out loud hoping that she would hear it. “Just don’t take too long over it,” he added, sullenly, ripping the post it note from the page and placing it on the face of the previous one. He began to read.

_The Howard’s family story was made up of a series of dramas that always hopped from one thing to another, their individual lives were not so different either and even though I loved each and every one of them, sometimes their dramas were all a little too much, even for my upbeat personality._

_O_ _n this particular occasion my friend and surrogate of Angelique Montgomery, Geri, had been found lying unconscious at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Angelique had offered a considerable reward for the apprehension of the culprit and I had unwittingly found myself answering the detective’s questions far too honestly after Peter had asked me not to, and framing him in the process._

_As I arrived at work the following day after my interrogation, the police were at the reception desk asking to speak with Peter. I panicked, knowing that they wanted to question him because of what I had told them the previous evening and I needed to get to him right away to let him know. I ran around the outside halls, knocking into co-workers on my way to Peter’s office, stopping shy of his desk. “Peter, I have to tell you something.” I rushed on knowing that time was of the essence. “I meant to tell you yesterday, but I thought I should do it in person.” I bit my lip as I felt my brows furrow, “you see, I sort of might have maybe admitted to the police that you asked me to lie about where you were the night of the party.”_

_“Wait. Why would you do that?” He asked me incredulously as he walked around his desk towards me._

_“I don't know! I’m not a very good liar, and I didn't think it was that big of a deal, and then he…”_

_The detective cut me off, both Peter and I turned to face him, “Mr Howard, you got a minute? I was wondering about something I noticed in your office. Are these your shoes?” He took out one of the handmade Italian, two-tone leather oxford shoes that were sat in a box on the end of Peter’s desk._

_“Yeah. Uh, those are actually … they’re Forzieri. They're one of a kind. My father knows Andrea personally and I got those shoes for my birthday. Even the soles are customised,” we watched the detective examining the leather footwear in great depth. Peter pointed out the detailing on the sole. “See!”_

_“Fancy. Size 11, huh?”_

_“Mm-hmm.” Peter answered._

_“I'm afraid you're under arrest.”_

_“What?” I shouted out._

_Peter’s shocked face looked back at me, “wait. What?”_

_The detective held up a piece of paper with a shoe print photocopied onto it, “the tread marks here match the size 11 shoe prints we found in the stairwell where Miss Rutherford was pushed.”_

_The policemen took hold of Peter and handcuffed him, as he looked back at me he seemed absolutely petrified and all I could do was hang my head in shame for what I’d inadvertently done. “Lily, call my lawyer.” He asked of me, his voice as if he was a little boy lost._

_“Um, right.” I said, flustered. “Okay, I will.” I was beside myself as I followed the detective out of Peter’s office and to my desk, finding the number that Peter had request I call and speaking with the attorney. I then went in search of Mrs Howard and Bethany, not that it was a difficult task considering the circumstances. They were already in the elevator when I found them._

_As the three of us got into a waiting town car, I listened intently to their conversation attempting to ascertain how they felt things had gone so awry. I couldn’t take it any longer. “I did it,” I said it so loudly and so quickly that I startled myself, let alone the other two passengers in the car._

_Mrs Howard and Bethany looked at each other before turning their attention to me. “What do you mean, Lily?” Mrs Howard asked me kindly._

_“I told the police that I didn’t know where Peter had disappeared to the night of the party.” Tears formed along my eyelids. “It’s my fault they arrested him.”_

_“But you told them the truth.” Mrs Howard was leaning forward, her hand resting over mine as they wrestled together in my lap._

_I nodded, “it’s all I could do, and I’m a terrible liar.”_

_“Why would you feel the need to lie?”_

_“Peter asked me to, he wanted me to say that he and I were working late in the office.” The tears falling hard and heavy, “but I know he didn’t push Geri. He would never do that.”_

_Mrs Howard moved to sit next to me, her arms hugging her to me, “there, there, Lily. None of us believe Peter is capable of doing anything like that to Geri, despite what the child she’s carrying could do to this family.” She pulled out a handkerchief from her purse, handing it to me. “Now, wipe your eyes and hold fast, Lily. Beth and I are going to pay Peter’s bail and then I want you to get him in the car and away from here so that the press don’t have a chance of getting to him. Do you think you can do that for him?”_

_I nodded, “yes.”_

_“Dry your eyes, dear.” She said so kindly to me that I felt like I was her daughter, “Peter needs you to be strong for him.” She placed her hand under my chin bringing my face up to look at her, “can you do that too?”_

_I nodded again, the faintest smile touching my features. I could do this. Ok, so I’d made a mistake but then I’d been brought up to be wholly honest, my sins would find me out, yadda, yadda. All I needed to do was let Peter know that I didn’t do this on purpose and hopefully he would forgive me. “Miss Cervantes,” the driver enquired, “the Howard’s are on their way out.”_

_“Ok, let’s get Peter.” I cried out, the driver hurtling off to stop suddenly outside the Manhattan Municipal Building. I jumped out of the car, opening up the door wide, “let’s go,” I said, Peter bounding into the back. I quickly followed suit._

_Mrs Howard smiled, “thank you, Lily.”_

_I nodded again before closing the door behind me and settling into the seat next to Peter, the driver tearing through the city streets to get us away from the craziness and back to Hipster Records. We’d been silent for what seemed like hours but in reality was about five minutes. “Peter, look. I know this is my fault, and I really want to help you get out of it, but you did tell me to lie about where you were that night.” I pleaded._

_He kept staring out of the car window, “I know. It's complicated.” He looked down at his hands but he wouldn’t look at me._

_Whatever it was that was stopping him from telling me what he was up to, was obviously something I wouldn’t like very much. He and I were supposed to be friends, weren’t we? So why was he making this so difficult. “More complicated than attempted murder?”_

_“Look, you just gotta believe me, Lily. You know me. I didn't push Geri.” At that moment I could’ve hugged him. In all fairness that’s all I ever wanted to do these days but I couldn’t, besides I was still a little angry that he wouldn’t tell me his secret. And that’s when he looked at me, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. He continued, “but beyond that, the less I say, the better.”_

_“Ok,” I said, folding my arms over my chest and looking out of my window now. He’d upset me, but the last thing I was going to do was let him see that. “I’m sure you’ll tell me when you’re ready to,” or when I find out by other means, I thought to myself._

_As far as the police were concerned they had got their guy but I knew what I had to do. I had to dig around a little and do the job the cops should’ve done in the first place. I was going to prove that Peter was innocent by finding out who the true culprit was; and if I found out Peter’s secret along the way, then that would be a bonus._

_Seeing that I had a chance to slip away, I called for the driver to stop as soon as he could. “What are you doing?” Peter asked._

_“Well, I think it’s best that I go and see Geri. Take her a bunch of flowers from you.” I spat, opening the door and getting out. I slammed it behind me and even though the glass was too dark to see Peter flinch, I could feel it. I watched the car drive off, my heart keening for the friendship that I felt I was beginning to lose. Something had been driving a wedge between us for some time and I wasn’t entirely sure that I could stop it, but I had to try._

"Oh, Betty,” Daniel sighed, if only there was a way that he could turn back time and tell her then what had been going on. He knew that he’d saddened her at the time but he never meant her to feel like she was losing him. Intrigued with what was to come he read on, “so what did you find out?” He mused.

_From that moment on I was on a path towards my goal. I visited with Geri, questioning her again about anything she could remember and if there was anyone she could think of that could’ve pushed her. Telling me that she and her husband had had a fight earlier on on the day of the party, I realised that he was just as much a suspect as anyone else._

_Once I left Geri, I saw her husband. I was so angry for how he’d upset her that I hit out at him, reminding him that she had only become pregnant to help him with his addictions and illness before confronting him about their argument. But my anger quickly subsided once he’d told me that the treatments hadn’t worked, that he was in an awful lot of pain and that he didn’t have long to live; the one thing that he was adamant about was that he loved his wife and that he would never do anything to hurt her especially because of all the things she had done for him. “Does she know?” I asked him, he shook his head. I drew in a deep breath, “well, I think she should. She deserves to be told. By you.”_

_Making my way back into the office, I decided to go and have a word with the security guard about getting the security tape from the stairwell. He let it slip that when he had looked for it for the police that it had disappeared. He also mentioned that he had said the same thing to ‘the little blonde girl’. That could’ve only been one person, Suzanna._

_I went in search of her and asked her why she had been looking for the tape but all she could come up with initially was that she wasn’t going to split the reward as she had some debts to pay off. Obviously, I wasn’t interested in the money so putting that issue aside I asked her if she’d seen anything happen to Geri. She said that she’d seen Dean, Angelique’s assistant, argue with Angelique in her office before striking her. So, as a united front, we went and spoke with Dean._

_Once we’d cornered him, Dean admitted to pushing Geri, but denied pushing her down the stairs. So we asked him about the argument with Angelique and he finally told us that sometimes he would yell at a doll that looked just like her in order to feel better about himself, and then decided that he’d had enough that night and wanted to go home. He’d just pushed Geri out of the way of the waiting elevator car before seeing Mrs Howard fall into Geri in an angry, drunken stupor._

_Now the three Amigos were on the case, but I hesitantly put myself forward as the spokesperson, sitting with Mrs Howard and asking her about what she could remember of the evening. She, in turn, said that she had fallen off the wagon rather dramatically after she and Bethany had demoted Angelique back to Artist Relations and Peter had been reinstated as Head of Marketing. Mrs Howard readily admitted that one drink was never enough and once she had spied Geri awaiting the elevator, she just saw red and lunged for her. “My drink ended up all over her blouse.” She said remorsefully, “Geri helped me into the ladies room and left me with Bethany. That’s all I remember.”_

_Thankful that I at least had an entourage, we went off to find Bethany. We asked if she could remember what happened when seeing Geri but she was just as clueless as anyone else, complaining that she’d been in the bathroom for a while because she’d spotted some facial hair as she’d forgotten to apply an oestrogen patch.  She said that she’d remembered Geri leaving her mother with her but that she hadn’t seen Geri leave herself._

_I was now totally perplexed, I’d followed the leads to the end and still not come up with anything satisfactory, I needed to find some evidence. That’s how minutes later Suzanna, Dean and myself were stood at the top of the stairs with the mannequin of Angelique trying to re-enact what had happened. Dean unceremoniously threw her down the stairs, bits of fibreglass splintering from the doll as it bounced down the steps. It was no good, we needed something heavier; Suzanna and Dean plumped for me._

_With two now turned against one, I was not going to get pushed without a fight. In my struggle to keep upright I managed to pull Suzanna and Dean down with me, the three of us rolling into a heap on the landing where Geri had been found._

Daniel laughed heartily, he could just imagine the looks on Marc’s and Amanda’s faces as they decided to throw Betty down the stairs as a substitute but her having the gumption to take them down with her as she fell. He sniggered as he read on.

_I pulled myself to my feet, “are you guys crazy, you could’ve killed us,” I said, patting my hands together in the vain attempt to remove the dust from my hands. Dust? I thought back to Peter’s first day back as Head of Marketing, he had thrown his coat over to me in order for me to get it dry cleaned for him. His coat had been dusty. “Oh my God? Peter’s coat.” I said to myself, leaving my friends to pick themselves up, running back up the stairs and through the floor into Peter’s office._

_I stood looking at the coat, now in a plastic cover after having the evidence removed. “Oh what did I do?” I said to myself, shame-faced. I went and sat in Peter’s chair, my hands rubbing over my face in desperation. It was then that I noticed his briefcase was slightly open on the desk and I detected a security tape inside. I reached in, this was what I needed, and whatever was on here would help me prove one way or another whether Peter was innocent or not. I held it in my hands like it was the Holy Grail and then noticed Peter outside of his office. I stood up quickly as he crossed the threshold and put my hands behind my back. “Peter! Hi. I was just looking for some paperwork. Nope. It's not here.” I moved so that I kept facing him, he followed me around the room as if we were dancing._

_“Hey, I'm glad I found you.” He began, “look, I've just been wanting to tell you how much your faith in me has meant during this whole ordeal.”_

_“Yeah. Of … of course.” I said, attempting to put the tape behind the elastic of my belt._

_“Something wrong?” He asked, still following me. If he wanted a hug, he was out of luck._

_“No, nothing's wrong.” I said holding up my hands and then bringing them together in front of me before reaching backwards and pulling my cardigan over the offending item. “Why would anything be wrong?” I smiled up at him._

_“I don't know, just kind of the way you said, ‘nothing's wrong,’ it’s kinda like, you know, sounds like there is something wrong.” He said, continuing his march towards me as we got to the door._

_“Nope.” I held up my hands once more as I crossed out onto the floor and then proceeded to look at my watch. “Oh, I gotta go.” I said._

"So that’s how you got it, you little minx,” Daniel smiled, “so resourceful.”

_He leant against the door frame, his eyes seemingly seeing right through me but the smile that was on his face seemed to be one of awe. How had I got that from him? Not that it mattered, I mean, I would never stop loving him but if he had pushed Geri down the stairs then where did that leave us exactly. Not that there actually was an ‘us’ anyway. I smiled briefly and waved, walking over to my desk and picking up my purse before rushing towards the exit, his eyes never leaving me for one second until he could no longer see me. I breathed out as I got to the lift but the chase wouldn’t be over until I’d got home, home to Queens. Because mami had a VCR and I needed to see what was on the tape that I now had tucked inside my bag._

_The house was seemingly empty when I got home but I still had to draw the curtains and make sure that I was ‘safe’ from prying eyes. Whose eyes those would be were a mystery to me and I was sure that Peter didn’t have that kind of superpower. I slipped the tape into the machine, switched on the TV and pressed play. There was Peter and some brunette going for second base on top of the copier machine. “Ew, Peter. That’s dirty and awkward.” I said to myself. I’d seen pictures of him up to no good, obviously. I knew what kind of a dog Peter was but this had been the first time I’d ever witnessed anything like this and I wasn’t quite sure how to take it. At least I knew why he was hiding it from me, he didn’t want to disappoint me._

_I went back to work, knowing that Peter would be working late and rushed back through the floor in much the same manner as I had left. Throwing the tape down on the table top he looked up to me and smiled, “it's complicated.”_

_“It's not that complicated, Peter. I've seen the tape.”_

_“Oh, God. Not the …” He twiddled his fingers to gesticulate something that remotely signified him having sex._

_“Yes, I saw enough.”_

_“Okay, so the woman I was with that night, that was Holly, the state department liaison who's been helping me with my custody problems?”_

_“And you're sleeping with her?” I was definitely disappointed._

_“No, no.” He stammered, pleading with me to listen to him with his eyes. “That … that happened after she started helping me. It wasn't like she started helping me because we slept together, but if it ever got out, I know that's what it would look like.”_

_“That's it?” I watched him nod. “That's why you couldn't say anything?” To me, I added silently. “What, are you crazy? Peter, you were arrested for attempted murder!” I was beside myself with anger._

_“Yeah, which I didn't commit.” I rolled my eyes at him deliberately. “Look, I had to believe they were gonna find the real culprit eventually.” I threw my hands up in the air. “Besides, if they ever found out where I really was that night, Holly could have lost her job, I'd lose her help and I could lose Peter Junior. Forever.” His frustration was now showing, “he's my son, Lily. I'm not gonna lose him now.” He was adamant. “I won't.”_

_“Oh, my God.” I stepped forward, my smile beaming, throwing my arms around him and hugging the life out of the poor man. “Peter, I have never been happier to find out about one of your sleazy affairs. Oh! I knew you couldn't have pushed Geri. I believed in you, and I was right. Mm!”_

_“Thank you, Lily.” He said, although he didn’t return the hug, “um, I'm … I'm sorry to do this right now. I … I'm late to pick up PJ.”_

_“Right. Okay.” I edged backwards and then straightened his tie for him, patting his shoulder for good measure. “Yes. You should go.”_

_He retrieved his jacket from the coat stand, “would you mind giving that coat back to Beth?”_

_“What do you mean, give it back?”_

_“She borrowed it a couple of days ago.” He said, throwing on his jacket and walking for the door, “it looks better on her anyway.”_

_And that’s when it hit me, the full force of the deceit weighing heavy on me so that Peter wouldn’t have to feel the effects of it at that very moment. I picked up the coat and walked out to where Beth was sat making notes on one of the new artists. I threw the coat on the nearest chair and proceeded to question her about that night. She caved, gave me all of the gory details. She asked me what she should do. I just merely explained that I knew Bethany was a good person, “but right now, you’re the only person that can prove that,” I finished, letting the reality seep into her consciousness and hope that she would do the right thing._

"It was you? All along." Daniel closed his eyes, "my saviour even then.”

_The next morning, I got in as normal and began my work; Peter had had his head down since I’d started and after a quick phone call he came out of his office, grabbed my hand and walked me back in with him, closing the door behind us. We stood in front of his desk, watching the scenes unfold before us, Bethany and Mrs Howard embracing one another whilst the detective and officers waited for them to finish. “So her lawyers are negotiating the terms of her surrender.” He said softly, his voice gravelly with the emotion that he was trying so hard to keep control of. “Lily, you think you know your own sister by now.”_

_“I know.” Thinking of my own sister’s problems and her tryst with a married man. “People can surprise you.” I took his hand once more, it seemed appropriate. I needed him to know that I would be there for him through whatever life threw at him and I think he got that._

_He gazed down at our joined hands, “thank you.” I looked up, catching his eyes as I smiled. The depth of emotion that were behind the cool blue exterior was enough to set my heart racing and I felt sure that he must have felt it too, but if he did he didn’t react._

_I prised myself away, making some excuse to go and get his breakfast, knowing that I needed to get out of there before I did something I would regret. It had been hard enough understanding how my dreams had taken a sudden side step, as I tried to understand why I was no longer just imagining having Peter kiss me. My latest vision had me sitting atop a copier machine with Peter between my legs, our clothing dishevelled and pushed aside as he …_

_I had to think about what was going on, to put things into perspective. Wasn’t me thinking about my boss and I in such a predicament as bad as Iris’ affair? I didn’t know, but I had to snap out of it. Peter needed a friend not some love starved woman who had designs on him, especially when he clearly wasn’t going to reciprocate. If I continued along this path then it would lead to a destruction of something that was far too risky to let go. As long as I had Peter’s friendship, I needed nothing else. I was resolute, I had to find something that would take my mind off my fantasies and little did I realise that it might just come in the form of my neighbour, the man that had returned my umbrella to me that very morning._

Daniel put the book down, “you have my faith, honey. I know you’ll never let me down.”

.oOo.

Betty couldn’t stop thinking about the time she’d spent with Daniel, cherishing every last second as she bit down onto her lower lip. Several times on her journey back to her hotel, she had to stop herself from asking the taxi driver to take her back to Daniel’s loft. She knew that he would take her in, look after her, help her fight the Vincent Publishing House for her book rights and love her till the end of their days. But she also knew that the best way to get rid of Garry was from within, not as an outsider.

As the taxi pulled up in front of the hotel, she paid the fare and stepped out onto the sidewalk, looking up at the building in front of her and wondering how her evening with Garry would go. She knew that normally he’d want to order something from room service so that they could spend some time talking before he took her to bed. But she couldn’t do that to Daniel, not now she knew that he was the one for her. With Garry, she’d find an excuse not to set a date for their wedding but she knew when Daniel asked her, she would marry him in a heartbeat.

Slowly, she made her way up the steps and thanked the doorman for his courtesy upon opening the door for her before deciding upon whether taking thirteen flights of stairs was enough to keep her from the inevitable for long enough. Even if it didn’t, she still had to decide upon what to say and do, she could just leave, leave his ring in the drawer with his underwear and pack up her stuff and go. But that would probably just make matters worse. What would she even say? Somehow she didn’t think ‘Garry, I don’t love you anymore’, was enough. Even if it was true.

She looked at her watch, deciding to take the elevator up to her room as there was still plenty of time before Garry got back; the elevator zipping up through the floors and depositing her on her landing. She stepped towards the room, fishing for the key card in her bag, all the while considering what she would say, what she would do, how she would keep him away from her. But first she needed a shower and a change of clothes. She put the key in the lock and opened the door, stepping into the suite, hearing what she thought was the TV coming from the living room. “Hello?” She called out.

Garry popped his head around the corner, “hello, darling. Where have you been?”

“Out,” she said quietly, as she passed him and walked towards the bedroom, shedding her coat and throwing it over the arm of the nearest couch.

“You’ve been out for a while?” He smiled sweetly, trying to coax her into telling him where she’d been.

“I was with Hilda.” He shook his head at her, “we had a girl’s night out.”

“Funny. She told me that she didn’t have a clue where you were when I rang her about three o’clock this morning.” He jeered. “So, where were you? With him?” He slammed a copy of Betty’s book down onto the table, making her jump out of her skin. “You were, weren’t you? You were with ‘Peter’,” spitting the name out at her in disgust.

“No, I …”

“Don’t lie to me, Betty.” He moved towards her, “you were back in New York and you just couldn’t keep away from him.”

“How long have you been here?” She asked.

“My plane got in about midnight, it was another forty minutes or so by the time I got here. I wanted to surprise you, Betty. Wanted to have my girl smile at me and make me feel like I was truly loved. Instead I came home to an empty suite.” He shook his head, “at first I thought maybe she’s out with her sister, staying over even, so I didn’t worry too much until about half past two when I tried calling your phone and my call went to voicemail. That’s when I called your papi, who said you weren’t there, so I tried Hilda. No joy there either.

“I tried your mobile again, it was clearly ringing so either you were in a prison cell, had been kidnapped or were simply ignoring your phone. I was worried, Betty, I didn’t know what to think when I couldn’t get hold of you. Have you not checked your phone?”

She had been far too preoccupied than to look at her phone. Taking it out of her purse and looking at the missed calls, she realised that there must have been about twenty from him. “Sorry?”

“Is that all you have to say? Sorry?” He closed the gap between them, a hand clenching around her chin. “You could’ve been dead for all I knew. I was out of my head with worry.” He drew her face closer to his, the bitterness in his tone evident as he began to speak again. “That was until I stubbed my toe on the bedside table and your ring box fell onto the floor. Forgive me for being curious but I had to open it, and there it was, in the box.” He picked up her left hand, “your ring.”

“Garry, I can explain.”

“Ok, let’s hear it.”

“I … I …” She started, trying to think of something to say quickly.

“Betty, don’t even try. Just tell me the truth.” She closed her eyes. “You can’t can you? You haven’t even got the decency to do that.” He grabbed her arms, his fingers sinking into her skin, she yelped as it became painful. “You see, that cologne doesn’t suit you. And I’ve smelt it somewhere else recently.” His nose was at the crook of her neck, taking a deep sniff, “at the bookstore, your last signing, when I brought you coffee and you told me to wait for you out back. It was him, wasn’t it?” Tears were falling down over her cheeks, as the pain increased in her arms. “Wasn’t it?” He shouted.

She nodded. His hands tightened further, “yes,” she whimpered. “Yes, I was with him.”

“What’s his name?”

A piece of information she would never impart. “Peter Howard!” She bellowed.

“I don’t think so, love? Tell me.”

She shook her head. “You’re so clever, why don’t you find out yourself?” The slap that Garry hit her with stunned her as she fell backwards against the couch, her back taking the full brunt of the blow against the solid arm of the chair. “Owww,” she cried out.

 “It doesn’t matter, I already know. I just wanted to hear you say his name.” She looked up at him, trying to understand how she could all of a sudden be in fear of this man, after all they had loved one another once, but if he knew why was he taking it out on her? “Daniel Meade, isn’t it?”

Betty wanted to shake her head, desperately wanted to say no and try and diffuse the situation. But she couldn’t, she didn’t have enough in her, “yes,” she wept.

He pulled her up to stand in front of him, treating her as if she was a rag doll. “He’ll pay for this.”

The tears continued to roll, “all he ever did was fall in love with me?”

“Ever the protector, eh, Betty?” She sobbed, knowing that he was right, she would always do anything in her power to protect Daniel. “Well, he’ll never have you again. I’m prepared to forgive you this once, as long as you play nice and marry me as you were going to all along.” She shook her head, “what, you don’t love me? That’s just too bad but I’m sure I can make you love me again, after all you loved me once.” He slid his tongue down her cheek before taking her mouth with his and biting her bottom lip. “We’ll make love and you’ll have my heirs.” His hand reached underneath her pullover, his fingers roughly squeezing a nipple. “Just remember though, Betty. I made you and I can break you just as easily.”

He pushed her back down onto the sofa, picking up both his and her key cards, along with her phone. “Get yourself cleaned up. I’ll come and collect you tomorrow when we’re ready to go to Chicago. And don’t even think of trying to phone you’re boyfriend or anyone else for that matter, because I have enough dirt on each and every one of them to break them all too.”

He walked out into the hallway, calling sickeningly sweetly out to her as he went, “goodnight, sweetheart.” Before slamming the door shut and leaving Betty on her own.

All Betty could do was pull her knees up to her chest, sink her head down and cry. If only she’d stayed with Daniel then none of this would have happened and she would be safe.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
If the incessant banging on his front door hadn’t already woken Daniel up, then the un-relentless ringing of his cell certainly had. “Alright, alright,” he shouted out, getting up out of his bed, rubbing his face in his hands vigorously and making his way to the hall, suddenly realising that it could actually be Betty banging on his door.  
  
He opened the door wide, his mother strutting past him down the hallway and into the living room. “You look awful, darling.”  
  
“Mom, what are you doing here?” He sighed.  
  
“Well, seeing as you’ve rung in sick for the last three days and I couldn’t find you at your normal haunt on such occasions. And the fact that you haven’t answered any of my telephone calls since Monday, I decided that it was about time the mountain came to Mohammed.” She took a seat at the dining room table.  
  
“Do you want something to drink?”  
  
“Is there anything left?” She said with a note of derision, spying the empty scotch bottle on the coffee table before catching his eye. “I’ll have a coffee.” She smiled, her voice considerably gentler than it had been when she’d arrived.  
  
Daniel busied himself in the kitchen, throwing away the stale liquid that was left in the coffee pot and brewing a fresh batch. Claire saw Betty’s book on the table in front of her, she pulled it over and read the inscription before thumbing through the leaves to the bookmarked page to see how far Daniel had got. Noticing the post it note that Betty had also left, she read that too before Daniel placed two mugs of steaming hot coffee down. He sat next to her, balling his hands on the table top in frustration, her hand closing over a fist. “What happened?”  
  
Daniel spent the next twenty minutes relaying the events of the past few days to her; the abandoned dinner, breaking up with Gabriella, the telephone call and subsequent meet up, his kissing Betty then leaving her to make up her mind for her to then turn up at his apartment only hours later to tell him that she loved and wanted only him. He then shared how they had started to make love but he had stopped them, Claire smiling at him for his good judgement even though Betty had convinced him that it was what they both really needed. He continued by telling her about those last few hours together, loving and comforting one another until it was time for her to go. “She told me to have faith in her, and I do, mom. How could I not do after everything she’s ever done for me? For us.”  
  
“So, now you have to be patient?” He nodded. “Daniel, there are times when I’ve looked at you and what you were doing and I wasn’t very proud of you, which, in turn, didn’t make me very proud of myself for not being the mother that I should’ve been. But you have grown into the kind of man I hoped you would do. And I am so glad that the two of you worked out what it was that you have together. I love Betty like a daughter and you both deserve to be happy. I couldn’t bear to see you throw your life away on women like Gabriella. You and Betty are so good together. And I for one will be glad when she works out what to do about getting rid of that publishing fellow she’s been with and comes running back to you. But we must all be patient.”  
  
“Thank you, mom.”  
  
“Now, why don’t you get dressed and take your mother out to brunch. Whilst we’re waiting for Betty we may as well make the most of our mother and son time together. For once she’s home where she belongs, I don’t think I’ll get much of a look in.” She smirked.  
  
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Right. If you think I’m going to be able to keep you two apart then I’ve got another think coming. She’s going to love being your daughter-in-law, as well you know.”  
  
Claire pinched his cheek, “I’m only teasing. Besides, I’m sure I’ll be the one looking after the grandchildren as often as not anyway.” She winked.  
  
Daniel grinned, the thought of his mom watching over their brood made him feel excited, not to mention the idea of Betty being pregnant with their child, their children even. Oh, if only he’d made her stay, but that was what the old Daniel would do, the selfish Daniel. He just had to bide his time and wait. She would soon be his, he knew it.  
  
.oOo.  
  
Startled from a fitful sleep, Betty huddled herself up in the bed, the comforter wrapped around her as her tired, fearful eyes watched the door handle turn. Thankfully, she’d had the foresight to lock the door and place the back of a chair underneath the handle so that should Garry return, he couldn’t just appear and make any demands. She was still strong and independent and by God, he wasn’t going to get away with hitting her like that.  
  
“Betty? Honey?” Garry cooed through the door, “come on now baby, let me in.”  
  
“Go away.” She spat, picking up the letter that she had written the night before and hiding it in the bottom of her bag. All she had to do was get someone to post it for her and she knew she’d be safe.  
  
“We have to get going for Chicago.”  
  
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”  
  
“Listen,” he sneered, his tone suddenly changing, “if you don’t come and open this God damn door,” he bellowed, “I’m going to break the damn thing down myself.”  
  
“Knock yourself out,” she said to herself, dragging her fully clothed body into the bathroom and looking at her tear stained face in the mirror; the sudden thudding from the other side of the door making her flinch even though she knew the chair wasn’t going to budge.  
  
The thudding stopped, “darling, what do you want?”  
  
“To be left alone to get on with my life.” She called out, wiping at the dried blood on her forehead with a wet cotton wool ball before attempting to discern the shade of blue that now covered her eye.  
  
“That’s not going to happen. We have a book tour to complete.”  
  
“ _I_  have a book tour to complete,” she reminded him. “I can do that on my own, I don’t need anyone to hold my hand.”  
  
“But we’re getting married, the publishing heir and the woman that single handily saved his company with the sales of her first book. We need to make this work.”  
  
“Make what work, Garry? You hit me.”  
  
“You slept with another man.”  
  
Well, she couldn’t deny that, “a man I’ve loved for as long as I’ve known him and a man that would never hit me, even if he was livid with me.”  
  
“Baby, we have to work this out. The media are going crazy over our pictures and there’s a text from your boyfriend on your phone that I think you need to see.”  
  
What was Garry up to? “Then leave my phone on the table and go.”  
  
“I can’t do that.”  
  
Betty mulled over her options, weighing up her chance of escape if this was a trick. They weren’t good but at least if she could get her phone and she had her purse with her then that was all she really needed. She checked through her bag, everything was there. She pulled out her jacket from the wardrobe and zipped into it, her bag crossing her body as she pulled the chair from under the handle and unlocked the door.  
  
Garry was sat on a couch, an array of newspapers and tabloids littering the coffee table, her phone on the arm of the chair. Contemplating the idea of just grabbing her phone and running, she noted the first headline; ‘English Lord set to wed New York’s Sweetheart’. She picked up the next, ‘Welcome, Lord and Lady Liberty’, another read, ‘Lord Liberty weds NY author’. She scanned the rest, taking in the pictures that accompanied the words, her heart sinking as she sat on the couch. “What have you done?”  
  
“I’ve done nothing, my love.” He said, but she knew he was lying.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because you’re mine.” He replied, handing her phone to her.  
  
She unlocked her phone, hit the messages button and opened Daniel’s text.  _I’m sorry I wasn’t enough for you, my love, but at least I have some great memories and our story. Have a good life, Betty._ “You bastard!” she yelled, her eyes blurring with tears, “get out!”  
  
“But we have a plane to catch.”  
  
“So, go and catch it. I won’t be coming. Tell that to your friends at the news agency. I’m postponing this damn tour.”  
  
He caught hold of her arm, pulling her to him. “You think that you can do what you like? I own you, remember?”  
  
“No, you own Rosa Martinez. And she’s just retired.” Betty struggled against his hold, fighting him with everything that she had in her. What would Daniel do, if he was her? What would Hilda do?  
  
Kneeing him in the crotch seemed like the best idea, his body crippling before her as soon as she’d hit the spot. But he still held fast onto her arm. She kicked him, crying out as he dug his fingers further into her skin. She closed her eyes momentarily, seeing the punch that had knocked Matt down in her mind’s eye. Perhaps she could do the same thing. She pulled back her fist, summoning up every last ounce of strength she had in her and lashed out, her knuckles meeting his temple and knocking his head against the arm rest of the chair. He may not have been out for long but it was enough for her to pry herself away from him and get out of the room. She ran down the hallway, pressing the call button for the elevator, turning her head every few seconds to make sure he wasn’t coming after her.  
  
As soon as the car arrived she fell in, the bellhop catching her and holding her upright as she steadied herself and turned to see Garry running towards her, but the doors were closing. She let out the breath she had been holding, “thank you,” she managed.  
  
Knowing that the chase had only just begun, she readied herself for her exit across the hotel foyer and out into a waiting cab. If she could get outside at least, then she knew she’d be ok; there was no way that Garry would want his reputation tainted by any means and a public display of anger and cruel words could really do some damage.  
  
She watched the numbers count down to the lobby, the doors opening, and an exit strategy was quickly mapped out. She was soon off, running around groups of people, her hair trailing behind her like a scarf on a windy day, closing in on the doors that would grant her her freedom. And then she saw him, hurtling towards her like a freight train, perhaps she’d been wrong, perhaps he wouldn’t mind making a scene as long as he was the victor. But she couldn’t let that happen, she wouldn’t.  
  
She pressed on, harder and faster as her legs would carry her, reaching the doors and narrowly missing Garry’s hand as the rotating door spun round and she lurched out onto the hotel steps. She whistled for a cab in true New Yorker style whilst Garry got caught up with the doorman, the familiar yellow of a taxi pulling up beside her in order for her to yank the door open and jump into the back, slamming the door shut behind her just as Garry reached the bottom step and the cab moved off. “If you don’t mind me saying, I think that was a close shave?” The white haired female driver called back to Betty.  
  
“Yeah,” she half smiled. “It was definitely close.”  
  
“Did he give you that shiner?” She nodded at Betty’s reflection in the rear view mirror.  
  
Betty touched her eye gingerly, “yeah.”  
  
“Well, you’re definitely better off without him.”  
  
“Thanks.” She said, spending the rest of the journey in companionable silence. After paying her fare, she stepped out of the car and looked up at the façade of Daniel’s building. As she walked up the steps the doorman greeted her. “Hey, Tony.”  
  
“Hi Miss Suarez.” He said, holding his hand out to take hers and kiss the back of it as he had done on so many occasions in the past. “Wow, that’s a nasty bruise.”  
  
“Yeah, I couldn’t find my cover up.” She shrugged it off, “is Daniel in?”  
  
“No, miss. He left several hours ago, with a suitcase. Asked me to keep an eye on the place whilst he was out of town.”  
  
“Out of town?” She asked incredulously.  
  
“I’m afraid so, miss.”  
  
“Did he say where he was going?” Betty asked, going over and over in her mind how badly he would’ve taken the news that she was getting married.  
  
“No, miss. He went out with his mother and came back not ten minutes later. Then another half hour went by before he came back down to the lobby with the suitcase and asked me to get him a cab to take him to the airport.” He paused, whilst she pondered what could be five minutes away from Daniel’s building. And then she remembered, there were automated newsstands on the corner of Spring Street, she looked at her phone, what time had he text her.  
  
“Tony what time did he leave?”  
  
“About ten thirty.” Around the same time as she had received his text. “Can I get you a cab, miss?”  
  
She nodded, “thank you. That would be good.” She’d have to go and see Claire, hopefully his mother would tell her where Daniel had gone to. She needed to nip this thing in the bud before it got any more out of hand. And as the cab pulled up outside of the French Chateau inspired building around the corner from Park Avenue, Betty had to wonder if she was doing the right thing. Perhaps this was just another one of those events that had been keeping her and Daniel apart for so long.  
  
But she couldn’t believe that, she had to find him, she had to make him understand. Even the bruise would help until he realised how she’d received it, knowing that she’d then have to calm him down. Stepping up to the imposing dark wooden front door she rang the bell, and was immediately invited in. “Hi, I’m Betty Suarez, I’m a friend of Daniel’s and Mrs Meade’s.”  
  
“Betty?” Claire called from the drawing room door, before crossing the hall and enveloping her within her arms. “What are you doing here?”  
  
“I … I …” Betty broke down, Claire immediately relieved Betty of her bag and jacket before walking her through into the living room and closing the door.  
  
“What happened?” Claire asked as soon as she saw Betty’s swollen and bruised eye, brushing her hair back from off her face and noticing the scabbed gash as well. Claire’s eyes barely contained the excess water that welled along her lower lids. “Did he assault you?”  
  
Betty nodded, “I’ve just managed to get away from him after he locked me in our room overnight. He knew about Daniel and I, got me to confess to it,” she blubbed, “and then he hit me.”  
  
“Oh, Betty. Why did you go back to him?”  
  
“I don’t know.” Betty shook her head, “I thought I could make a clean break, thought that we could talk it through and see where we both stood as far as the book deal was concerned but he just wouldn’t stop trying to blackmail me into staying with him.” She picked up her bag and pulled out the letter she had written, handing it over to Claire.  
  
Claire picked up her glasses and began to read, Betty anxiously waiting for her to finish. “At least you got away from him.”  
  
“For now,” Betty hesitated.  
  
Claire took Betty’s hands in her own, “did he do anything else? Did he …?” Claire could hardly bear to ask but she had to know.  
  
“Rape me?” Betty shook her head. “No, but my escaping him is going to make things awkward. What with the book sales and the signings.”  
  
“We’ll sort it out.” Claire smiled, “I’ll speak to your agent if needs be, I’ll even take over publishing your book if necessary.”  
  
Betty smiled, “thank you Mrs Meade, but I couldn’t ask you to do that.”  
  
“I know you couldn’t, and who’s to say I’m doing it all for you? Plus, I think it’s long overdue that you finally call me by my name, it’s Claire.”  
  
“Thank you, Claire.” Betty’s eyes roamed around the room. “Is Daniel here?”  
  
“No. Why would you think he would be?”  
  
“Well, he wasn’t at the loft and Tony said that he left with a suitcase.”  
  
“Oh dear, God.” Claire picked up the phone and began dialling his number. “Have you tried his cell?” Betty nodded, “he’s not answering.”  
  
“Should I be worried?”  
  
Claire looked at Betty, “no, dear. He’s probably just gone to stay with someone for a couple of days, to try and clear his head, no doubt.”  
  
“I know he saw the papers, he sent me a text to tell me that he hoped I’d be happy with my choice.” Betty said, her bottom lip trembling. “He won’t answer any of my calls. I think he really does hate me this time.”  
  
“Yes, about those stories. Is this some stunt that your … whatever he is, is playing?”  
  
Betty nodded, now no longer able to keep back her tears, “yeah. I guess he thought he could coerce me somehow, possibly thinking that all I needed was a reminder of how happy we once were and I would willingly accept it. He didn’t get the reaction he expected from me though. But seeing Daniel’s text made him happy.”  
  
“I bet it did.” Claire said dryly, her thumbs rubbing circles over Betty’s hands. “Ok, I’m going to find you some nightclothes and put you in the guest room, then I’m going to call the doctor over to make sure you’re ok. Finally, I’ll call your sister to come and stay with you.”  
  
“Claire, please, that’s too much.” Betty protested.  
  
“Nothing is too much for the woman who dearly loves my son and who he loves in return. I won’t take no for an answer. Now come on.” Claire ordered, getting up from her seat and taking hold of Betty’s hand. She led the way through the house, up the staircase and into a bedroom at the back of the house that overlooked a beautiful courtyard. Betty stood at the window, admiring the view of the fish pond and the trees that were covered in white blossom. Claire came back into the room with a satin negligee and dressing gown set. “These were Alexis’. I’m sure they’ll be ok for you and if they fit you may as well have them.” Claire smiled, before walking over to where Betty was stood. “I found Daniel swimming in that pond when he was five. He and Alex had had a fight and, as usual, Alex had to have the upper hand, dropping Daniel into the water and nearly drowning the poor boy. Gave me such a fright that I made him take swimming lessons after that.”  
  
Betty giggled, she loved hearing stories about Daniel, Alex and their sibling rivalry growing up. It reminded her of Hilda and herself, although Hilda had never knowingly tried killing Betty. “Come on, let’s get you into bed, you look like you could sleep for a week. The doctor will be here soon and Hilda said she’d be here about seven. Do you want anything to eat?”  
  
“No, I’m good at the moment, Claire. Thanks.”  
  
“Then I’ll see you in the morning and please, feel free to treat this house as if it were your own.” Claire turned to leave before turning back to Betty, “Daniel’s old room is next door, if you feel like you need some comfort.”  
  
Betty smiled, “thank you,” she said before giving Claire one of her signature hugs. Claire kissed her on the cheek before letting her go and making for the door. “Goodnight, Claire.”  
  
Claire smiled from the doorway, “goodnight, Betty. Sweet dreams.”  
  
Betty sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers playing with the fabric of the nightie that Claire had left her with, but she couldn’t muster the strength to change. After kicking off her shoes, she slid back onto the bed, curling up into a ball on the centre of the counterpane and tightly hugging a pillow before her eyes slid closed and she fell asleep.  
  
.oOo.  
  
Daniel sat down in front of the roaring fire of the family’s mountain retreat on the outskirts of Aspen. He had no intention of skiing or snowboarding or anything else snow sports related whilst he was there, but he knew that it was probably the least likely place that anyone would look for him and it meant that he could enjoy the serenity without anything disturbing his solitude.  
  
As soon as he’d arrived he’d changed into thick sweats and woollen socks, and he hadn’t changed again since. He’d also managed to keep the fire stoked in all of that time too, so he’d obviously learnt something from his father. Having spent the last two nights on the couch, the crick that had developed in his neck meant that he’d have to seek out the comfort of a bed tonight. And that was only if he could ever get rid of the images of Betty and himself together, or could put her book down long enough to finally catch some decent sleep.  
  
But the draw was too much, even with the snow falling heavily on the other side of the picture window, he put down his mug of cocoa and picked up the book to read a little more.  
  
 _I was staring out of the window of Peter’s office, waiting for him to return. Having heard him sigh as he walked through the door I knew he was there before I even looked over my shoulder. “Uh, Lily?” He said._  
  
 _That was when I turned around. I could see the remorse in his demeanour but I was still livid with him, would be for some time. “You lied to my face, Peter.” I stated angrily._  
  
 _He took a step towards me, “you have to believe me. You were never supposed to get blamed for this.”_  
  
 _“But I did.”_  
  
 _“And I defended you. You saw me.”_  
  
 _“Yeah, but you knew the truth, and you said nothing.” Tears brimmed at my eyes._  
  
 _“Look, things are not as simple as you and I wish they were.” He tried to cover, “this company is in a lot of trouble. We need money. I only agreed to it because it was a business decision. It was a way to save jobs.”_  
  
 _I had had enough of his excuses, I stormed past him. “And ruin my reputation.” I didn’t want him to see me cry, I held on for as long as I could. After all, we were supposed to be friends and he just let that happen to me._  
  
 _“Look, I never intended for that to happen. This is gonna blow over.” He pleaded._  
  
 _“Blow over?” My voice finally cracked, but I was stubborn and I needed to vent my frustrations. “I'm not Peter Howard. I'm an assistant, and I don't want to be an assistant for the rest of my life. The only thing I have going for me is my reputation, and now I don't have that. I'm Tsunami Girl.” I spun around and ran out, finding my way to the ladies room, picking a stall and letting the tears flow._  
  
 _By the time I finally stepped out most of my colleagues had already left for the evening. I searched for the one person who I knew would still be around. And sure enough I found him in the video vault._  
  
 _Thanking Dean for his help I suddenly realised that he had problems of his own; he had asked his boyfriend to marry him in a fit of guilt. The real tragedy was that I could see Dean was a good person and felt that he should take the opportunity to tell his boyfriend that he had slept with another man; “… I also know that it really hurts when someone you trust lies to you.” Especially someone you love, I wanted to add but chickened out._  
  
"You're not wrong, Betty." Daniel sighed, thinking back to the row of newspaper stands all echoing the same story; that his Betty was indeed marrying her English Lord.  
  
 _As I walked back out to collect my things I noticed that a press conference had been set up and, as usual, Angelique was attempting to run the show. “And how are you dealing with Tsunami Girl?” One of the reporters asked, “fired, reprimanded, banished to a basement somewhere?_  
  
 _“Now, now.” Angelique began, “that is an internal issue that we are handling privately. We're all human, and we all make mistakes. So thank you …”_  
  
 _Peter cut her off, his eyes having finally found me in the crowd. “Angelique's right.” He sighed, “we all do make mistakes, especially those of us in charge. I was the one who made the decision to let the cover for Diamond Dogz debut album stand. It was a very cynical decision, and I regret it but not nearly as much as I regret watching my assistant, Lily Cervantes, take the blame. It was my fault, mine alone.”_  
  
 _“Well, I … I, for one, am shocked, Peter,” Angelique couldn’t resist. “Personally shocked and embarrassed that our company is involved in something like this.”_  
  
 _Peter wouldn’t let it go, “which is why Hipster Records will donate all operational profits from the sale of this album to a relief fund to benefit the victims of these terrible conditions.” He paused, “uh, that's … that's all I have to say. Thank you, everyone.” He began to walk towards me but was cut off by the throng of reporters and photographers. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed to me, his brows furrowed, face sullen and his eyes extremely sad._  
  
 _“Thank you,” I mouthed back, a smile touching my lips and my faith restored in him again. I headed home for the evening wondering what would throw me for a loop the next time, what schemes I’d end up embroiled in, what Peter would get up to next. But none of it really mattered, not when my heart was singing at the pure joy I felt from having Peter put himself on the line, for me. I was so lucky to have him as a friend, if we could get through this then we could get through anything._  
  
"Not everything, Betty.” He whispered, momentarily closing the book, staring down at her beautiful picture on the cover and tracing the lines of her face with his fingers.  
  
 _I temporarily fancied that maybe he was coming around to my way of thinking, especially with the huge bunch of flowers that arrived at my home the very next morning. But to my chagrin there was already another in his sights, another to soothe his pain and seize his heart if she chose to do so. Once again, I plunged my own heart into remission, my unrequited feelings pushed back into the deep recesses of my mind once more as I stood by and watched him make a play for a woman that was engaged to another man, who, in turn, happened to be an old college friend of Peter’s and who Peter had brought in as CFO to help with the company’s future fortune. The sultry tones of Nat King Cole reverberated time and time again in my mind, ‘there may be trouble ahead’._  
  
 _Why he kept doing these things to himself, I couldn’t say. But I so dearly wanted him to stop, stop and realise that what he needed was right there in front of him the whole time. Every time we talked my heart would send out silent signals to his, but they were left unanswered as he pursued this other woman relentlessly, using his charms to woo her, becoming the man that was always available whilst her fiancé had to work. And through all of this, I stood ceaselessly by his side just hoping and praying that this would be another passing fancy, that his mother’s wise words would get through to him, that he would come to his senses._  
  
 _But he didn’t, and eventually I had sit back on the side lines once again. I watched as he took her from his friend, as they fell in love and moved in together, as she told him about her illness and he gave her every comfort. I offered sympathy when she refused Peter’s suggestion to make her healthy again. I gave them the wedding they so sorely needed that I hashed together in a matter of hours from out of a failed project. And on the night of the MTV Video Music Awards, when I was given the opportunity that I had sought from the very beginning, I also offered Peter comfort when his wife lost her fight to live._  
  
 _A piece of Peter died that night too, I could see it in his eyes. Having just been promoted into a new position I had gone back to Hipster Records after the awards had finished and was wandering around in my new dimly lit office when I got the text. ‘I need you’, it simply stated. By the time I made it to their place, Peter was sat on the steps leading up to their building, his face so miserable that I immediately understood what had transpired. Silently I held him in my arms, giving him what I hoped would be every solace for as long as he needed it. I stayed with him that night and the next, waiting for him to talk but he didn’t say a word for nearly a week. When he wept, I was his shoulder to cry on. When he needed moral support, I was his crutch. When he slept, I was the one he held onto._  
  
 _Slowly, I helped him back into shape. I held his hand throughout the cremation and at the wake I was his constant companion, he would never allow me to be too far away from him. But I had to draw the line somewhere. If I didn’t, then not only would my heart be crushed again but my work would also suffer and I would be out on my ear despite Peter assuring me to the contrary. When he decided it was time to sprinkle some of his wife’s ashes in Mongolia as per her wishes, I refrained from going with him. He seemed a little hurt but I told him that I was never too far away from him as long as he had his phone and a signal. Needless to say, I didn’t hear from him in over five weeks, not until he literally hit the tarmac at JFK with a gun pointed at his head; that was._  
  
 _After much pleading and a little bribery on my part, I was able to get Peter out of customs custody and back to his wife’s home. In hindsight, I should have made him go anywhere but there. But he insisted that everything was ok and that he needed a place to stay._  
  
 _As the days passed by, my fears grew. Here was a desperately lonely man that missed his wife dearly, there was always a small reminder of her everywhere he went or everything he looked at and I was everyone’s first port of call when Peter went from that first stage of grief to the second; his anger simmering over at the slightest thing, with me being left to deal with it and him._  
  
 _As he made his way through the crowded apartment he tripped over a chair, his anger bubbling up to the surface and lashing out at the inanimate object, breaking it in the process before picking up a potted plant and readying himself to smash it against the wall. I can only imagine what he must have seen in my eyes as he turned to face me, I must have been scared witless, because I then watched him calm himself and place the plant back onto the clear glass top of the dining room table. He was too vulnerable to be left alone, someone had to stay with him and it may as well have been me._  
  
 _I made my excuses to my boss, Phil, who was also my ex-boyfriend and spent the night with Peter, watching old movies, playing games, making sure he ate something and all the while I was working, chatting on the phone about my live show concept meeting for Up & Over that was due to take place the following day at the Radio City Music Hall. We would also be shooting material for the programmes and posters. Everything had to be perfect._  
  
 _And as I rushed to the concept meeting early the following morning, having spent the night flat out on Peter’s couch and wearing the clothing that I’d worn the day before, I realised that the day was going to end up being a disaster. The backing singers were fighting, the band were half cut and someone had decided that a massive grinning rabbit would be a good idea, at least it went hand in hand with myxomatosis but didn’t come close to the album concept, which only bore the same name. I went mad._  
  
 _For the first time in my professional career, I threw my toys out of the pram. I argued about everything and to anyone that would listen, and when it came to the turn of my ex-boyfriend I pulled no punches there either. It wasn’t until he made a comment about Peter and I sleeping together that I realised Peter had finally showed up at all. For Phil crumpled onto the floor from the blow that Peter had struck him with. I was totally shocked as the room fell momentarily silent, all eyes on the three of us, but within a few seconds chaos reigned once more and it took Angelique to bring everything back into order._  
  
 _Having been thrown out of my own shoot, along with Peter, we headed down towards Bryant Park, finding a secluded bench underneath the trees, the statuesque beauty of the public library in front of us. “You shouldn't have hit Phil like that, you know?”_  
  
 _“Yeah, well, he was being a jerk.” Peter defended his actions._  
  
 _“Yeah, that might be, but you still shouldn't have punched him.”_  
  
 _“Okay.” He looked over and caught my expression, “then why are you smiling?”_  
  
 _“Fine! I can't help it.” I smiled even more, “he was being a jerk. He deserved it. But it still wasn't the right thing to do.”_  
  
 _He sighed, “look, I know. I'm sorry. You're absolutely right. I … I messed up.”_  
  
 _I turned as much as I could to face him, “Peter, I've been worried about you. Ever since you got back to New York, it's like you're … ?”_  
  
 _He looked at me, “angry?” He finished._  
  
 _“Yeah.”_  
  
 _“I am angry. Lily, I'm … so angry at myself. I'm angry I couldn't help.” He looked down at his hands, clasped together in his lap._  
  
 _“Molly?” I asked._  
  
 _He nodded, “when you told me what was going on at the office, I guess I just thought, finally, I could help someone.”_  
  
 _“Peter …” I tried to speak but he cut me off._  
  
 _“I know I shouldn't have hit Phil, but I'm so tired of feeling helpless.”_  
  
 _I chewed at my bottom lip, unsure of whether I should progress with my next sentence or not, but this was my friend and I cared about him, “I think you need to talk to someone.” I watched him look away from me in frustration, a hand sliding across his features. I ambled on, “Look, not … not your family. Maybe not me, just … just someone.”_  
  
 _He wanted to lay my comments to rest once and for all. “Listen I think you might have made a mistake.” He changed tack._  
  
 _“What do you mean?” I asked, not understanding where his thoughts were taking him but going with them all the same._  
  
 _“You decided to help me instead of doing your job. You're not my assistant anymore. Things are changing, for both of us. We have to accept that.”_  
  
 _He was laying everything down on me. “Well, what if I don't want 'em to change?”_  
  
 _“Well, why don't you want them to change? They could get better.” His eyes seemed to hold a little spark as he looked at me once again, a glimpse of the old Peter._  
  
 _“I guess. I just … I just don't want to lose who I am.” I whined._  
  
 _“Listen to me.” He took my hands into his, his eyes searching deep within mine, “you are not the same person I met three years ago. Lily, you've already changed. But you're still you.”_  
  
 _“So, how does this work now, you and me?” A little afraid to ask._  
  
 _“We're not boss and assistant anymore.” He smiled._  
  
 _“No.” I agreed._  
  
 _“We're friends.” The smile that he gave me was so warm, I felt like he had lifted me high up into the trees so that I could touch the sun._  
  
 _“Friends.” I acknowledged as he drew me closer to him and hung his arm over my shoulders holding me against his chest. I don’t know how long we sat like that, watching the world go by, just content to be in each other’s company whilst soaking up the atmosphere. By the time the sun dipped I was famished but Peter wasn’t about to let me go just yet. We ate at the café, hung out at the bar and finally, as our part of the world was shrouded in darkness, he escorted me home._  
  
 _We scaled the steps to my front door, “do you want to come in for a bit?” I asked. “Get a coffee?”_  
  
 _“No, I think I’ll pass tonight,” he smiled, “besides you need to be up bright and early to apologise to that ex of yours.”_  
  
 _“Ok.” I said, my arms already feeling up over his chest and around his neck in order to take him into a hug. “Thank you for today.”_  
  
 _“No, Lily, thank you.” He crushed me to him, his arms locked around my waist so that I couldn’t move, the intoxicating smell of his cologne invading my senses and taking over any good sense I had. Before my brain could kick in, my lips were on his neck, kissing at the exposed skin._  
  
 _As soon as my brain caught up, I struggled against him before finally pulling free of his arms. “I’m sorry,” I said quickly, searching for my keys in my bag in order to get out of the situation I had put myself into as quickly as I could, but Peter was undeterred._  
  
 _“Don’t be,” he said, his eyes full of wonder, his hands steadying mine and taking my bag from me. He retrieved my keys and handed them over. “Goodnight, Lily.” He said, retracing his steps back to the car and opening the door, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”_  
  
 _I nodded my agreement, suddenly finding myself grinning like an idiot and waving like one too. I walked through the door and into the living room, Iris was busy getting ready for her appointments the following day. “I can fit you in tomorrow morning before work, mami, if you want your bangs cutting?” Iris called out._  
  
 _I sat at the dining room table, “I think I want to try something different tomorrow.”_  
  
 _“Really?” She smirked, “this wouldn’t have anything to do with Peter would it?”_  
  
 _Knowing that she’d probably been spying on our earlier embrace, I decided to take a chance. “Maybe a little, but I think it’s high time for a change.” My hands glossed over the fabric of the pants suit I had been given by my latest signings agent because it had been way too big for her, “do you think you could help me with some makeup though?”_  
  
 _“Of course,” Iris exclaimed, “just set your alarm for a half hour earlier, we’ll need the extra time.”_  
  
 _With that in mind, I bounded up the stairs and into my room. The feelings that Peter had evoked with the final look he had sent my way had determined my fate. I didn’t know how or when but we were now inevitable. He just needed time and I would give him as long as he needed._  
  
“If only we were,” he smiled wistfully, hoping that the inevitability would bring Betty to her senses before draining his mug and getting up to make himself another drink. As he walked out into the hall, he noticed a face peering in through the window by the door. “Who’s there?” He shouted out.  
  
“It’s me, Becks.” His best friend called out from the other side of the door, “I was wondering if anyone was home.”  
  
Daniel opened the door, surprised to see his friend, “what are you doing here?”  
  
“Well, there was this woman …” Becks started, as he strutted into the hallway, “… and somehow I ended up here, dude. My whole family have invaded the shack up at Two Creeks so I was wondering if we’d be ok here?”  
  
“So, where is she?” Daniel asked, wondering where Becks’ date was.  
  
Becks quickly stumbled back outside and grabbed the girl. “We met in Mexico. She was modelling, I was taking the shots. ” Becks offered as an explanation as he grinned before pulling her inside.  
  
“Gabriella?” Daniel wanted to laugh, of all the girls in all the world. He shook his head at the tipsy blonde in front of him.  
  
“You two know each other?” Becks asked.  
  
He watched her nod her head. “Yeah, we had a thing going for a while.” Daniel explained.  
  
“Until Betty …” Gabriella spat out.  
  
“Maybe, we should find somewhere else.” Becks suggested.  
  
Daniel sighed, “it’s ok Becks. Things would’ve ended anyway. The north wing is all made up, why don’t you both use that? You remember the way?”  
  
Becks picked Gabriella up in his arms, “of course,” he nodded, “spent many a reckless night over there.”  
  
“See you both at breakfast.” Daniel waved them off, noticing how Gabriella’s eyes had not once stopped looking at him since she’d stepped over the threshold.  
  
“Maybe brunch, Danny boy.” He heard Becks call out as they disappeared around the corner at the top of the stairs and out of view.  
  
Picking up his mug containing the now luke warm drink, he went back into the living room and made himself comfortable on the couch. He picked up his phone and switched it on. The screen revolved for a while, Betty’s name the most frequent amongst the missed calls but he chose to ignore them for the time being. He needed time to mend before he made any amends with Betty.  
  
Towards the end of the messages he counted about five from his mother. He called her back before noticing the time on his watch. It was after midnight and he was about to switch off when she answered. “Hello, Daniel?”  
  
“Mom, are you ok?”  
  
“I’m fine, just a little worried about you. How are you?”  
  
“I’m ok.” He lied, “I’m just nursing my broken heart with cocoa and Betty’s book.”  
  
“Well, that’s the thing, there’s been a terrible misunderstanding. Where are you?”  
  
“Somewhere where no one will find me for a while.”  
  
He heard her sigh, “why do you always have to make things so difficult?”  
  
“A long time ago, mom, I made a pledge to let Betty have her life. I had to let her go, and now I have to do it again. Only this time it has to be forever.”  
  
“No, Daniel, you don’t.”  
  
He rubbed his face with his free hand, “Mom, I do. Seeing Betty in all of those newspapers, seeing how happy she was. She can never have that with me, I’m too messed up. We all are. It wouldn’t be fair to her.”  
  
“So, you’re going to give up fighting for her?”  
  
He closed his eyes, “yes. And I have to do what I know how to do best. I’m going to hide for a while, hibernate and hopefully when I’ve recharged my batteries for a bit, I’ll be back to normal and can come back to work.” The phone was deadly silent at the other end of the line. “Mom, are you there?”  
  
“I’m here Daniel. I don’t like what you’re doing but you need to do what you think is right.”  
  
“No, ‘come home Daniel and we’ll work through this’, or ‘get your arse back to work, son’?”  
  
“I learnt a long time ago that Meade men were stubborn. Stubborn and stupid actually.”  
  
“Gee thanks.”  
  
He could feel her smiling down the phone, “but I also know that you are dealing with something that is akin to Molly dying and I think that you do really need to grieve for Betty.” She paused, “if she is truly lost to you then …”  
  
“Please don’t say anymore.” Daniel said quietly, tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes. “I love you, mom.”  
  
“I love you too, darling. Come home when you’re ready too.”  
  
“Thanks.” As soon as he’d ended the call, he let the tears fall. Was his mother right? Was what he was feeling part of the grieving process knowing that this time it was Betty that would be dead to him? Head in hands, his body racked from the silent sobbing that suddenly came upon him. “I love you, Betty.”  
  
.oOo.  
  
Part way through the night, Betty had left the confines of the guest suite and the soft snores of her sister and made her way down the hall to Daniel’s old room. Pushing the door open and switching on the light, she surveyed the room, scanning it for memento’s and photographs, anything that would take away the dull ache in her chest and she found it in bucket loads.  
  
She picked up a graduation photo, Daniel even looked good in the red and black cap and gown, a smile touching her lips as she noted the slight fishy face pout. She looked along the walls, at the pennants for various sporting teams, at the books that lined the shelves, at the music in the CD rack. There were a few raised eyebrows at some of the surprises she found, a Victor Hugo amongst all the Jules Verne, British punk surrounded by American rock.  
  
She turned her attention towards the closet, opening one door and finding old varsity sweatshirts and several pairs of jeans, not to mention a cashmere sweater in charcoal grey. Pulling it from the hanger she sunk her face into the fabric, the faintest aroma of Daniel’s usual musk and sandalwood cologne still hanging to the fibres. Crawling onto the bed, she lay down, his scent enveloping her as she moved under the covers. He must have recently stayed overnight, “oh, Daniel,” she said, her voice muffled by the pillow as she buried her face into the bedding.  
  
It wasn’t long before she heard footsteps coming from a floor above and the door to the guest bedroom being opened. “Betty?” She heard Claire summoning her before the footsteps doubled and closed in on the door to Daniel’s room. “Betty?”  
  
“I’m in here, Claire,” she said, kneeling up in the bed, her tired bloodshot eyes, still damp.  
  
Claire’s face dropped at the look on Betty’s face as she crossed the room, sat on the edge of the bed and took her into her arms. “I’ve just got off the phone with Daniel,” she smiled down at Betty before looking over to Hilda who was now stood in the doorway admiring the furnishings and objet d’art. “I know where he is.” She said excitedly. “He’s at the family lodge. In Aspen.”


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
“And you know that because?” Hilda questioned, as all three women sat in a row at the kitchen breakfast bar sipping on hot chocolate.  
  
“He said that he was hibernating. He only ever used that particular phrase if he and a couple of friends were going to spend most of Christmas break trying to bed as many of the female chalet staff as they could.” Claire divulged, “not that I think he’s doing that this time.” She placed her hand on Betty’s arm hoping she would understand.  
  
Betty smiled, remembering what it had taken the last time for him to ‘get back on the horse’ after Molly died. Having told her that his feelings for her were tenfold what they were for Molly then she knew he wouldn’t be back on that track. “I know he’s not.” Betty said, her free hand covering Claire’s. “I just have to find a way to get there.”  
  
“I’ve already got the jet arranged for nine o’clock, Betty. When you get to the airport in Aspen I’ve arranged a hire car for you as well.” Claire remarked, “it will be easier than trying to get a car to take you out to the lodge at this time of year, especially considering you’ll have to go shopping as soon as you arrive anyway.”  
  
“That’s if my cards still work,” Betty grimaced, her smile diminishing as she realised that she may not have access to any of her money if Garry had had his way. She watched Claire reach across the counter for her purse, delving inside and pulling out her wallet.  
  
“Here, take this. I suggest you go and see Delilah at The Dressing Room, she’ll be able to help you. I’ll call her to let her know you’ll be there sometime tomorrow afternoon and give her a list of things you’ll need. That way she’ll be prepared.”  
  
“Claire, I can’t thank you enough.” Betty grinned, the tears welling up along her lashes.  
  
“It’s my pleasure,” Claire swung around on her stool, taking the young woman in her arms and hugging her close. “You’re virtually family. And whilst you’re gone Hilda and I can see if we can do something about that ex of yours. We’ll get you out of his contract.”  
  
“But I should be here helping with that.”  
  
“The best way you can help, Betty, is by going to Aspen and making my son the happiest man on the planet. If we need answers, Hilda and I can get in touch.” Claire sighed, “needless to say that I will have to instruct a lawyer and an investigator in order to get some information on Lord Liberty. That will take time and there’s no better place for you to be at the moment than with Daniel.”  
  
“Yeah, mami. Daniel is your Santos, you should be with him.” Hilda offered, reminding Betty that she had used that exact line to get Daniel to make love to her in the first place three nights previously.  
  
“He is my Santos, I’d just be wasting time sitting around waiting for Daniel to come home so it’s better that I go to him, and try and make him see sense about the lies Garry’s told.” Her smile grew, “thank you both so much.” She hugged them both in turn before making her way back up through the house and back to bed.  
  
Climbing in between the comforting sheets of Daniel’s bed, Betty realised that no matter what happened she had the love and support of her whole family as well as Claire. Together they would be a force to be reckoned with and Garry wouldn’t stand a chance. He may have come from old money and have connections in the city but that would be nothing compared against the Meade’s and their lawyers when they started battle. In all of the time that Betty had known the family, no-one had beaten them. And she had a feeling that that wasn’t about to change anytime soon.  
  
.oOo.  
  
Having made sure that he was in the furthest bedroom away from Becks and Gabriella, Daniel had awoken mid-morning after a restful sleep, the first he had had since arriving at the lodge. Not only that, but he had also decided that it was about time he showered and had a change of clothes, especially since he now had company, even if it wasn’t welcomed. The brooding needed to stop and having guests would definitely put the kybosh on that.  
  
He made himself a hearty breakfast and slowly ate his way through the scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes enjoying every last morsel. Pouring himself another cup of coffee, he took a place on the window seat, picked up his book and began reading once more.  
  
 _I wasn’t needed anymore, I had been replaced._  
  
 _Not only was Phil taking a plus one to Angelique’s charity event but Peter had found himself a new friend and she had also become his new assistant._  
  
Daniel grimaced, if there was ever a more testing time for Betty then it had to be this one.  
  
 _I was beside myself, my heart had been ripped out from its resting place behind my ribcage and was laying on the floor still beating for everyone to see. All it needed was for either Phil or Peter, or more precisely both of them, to stamp on it in order to free me from this misery that I was being subjected to; but neither of them would take the hint so I picked myself up, did as I was assigned and hoped that I would still have the pleasure of Peter’s company at lunch._  
  
 _And as I sat and waited for him to arrive, I became more and more dejected. He had never been late before when we lunched out as boss and assistant but now that the dynamic had changed he obviously felt that I wasn’t as important as perhaps I once had been. I looked at my watch, he had five more minutes before I ordered to go and left._  
  
 _When I looked up from my state of desolation the next time, he was walking in. My heart leapt into my mouth, my fingers twitched and the hair stood up on my pimpled skin. Finally he had arrived and we would enjoy our meal together as two good friends should. That was until I saw her, taking a place behind the chair next to him, the new friend, and the new assistant, the one that was gradually replacing me in his life and in his heart._  
  
 _I tried to keep up with their conversation for as long as I could, the references to people in their group counselling meetings and the ‘phasing’ that they did, leaving me somewhat bemused. When we got around to chatting about Phil and I and the prospect of us getting back together, I explained that it wasn’t to be, that Phil was taking someone else to the party. But it gave me an idea. “You know how I used to always be your plus one at work events? Well, how do you feel about being mine this … this time?” I asked Peter hesitantly._  
  
 _“Oh.” He seemed surprised. “Actually, um, I was already gonna bring someone.” I looked between him and Gail, realising that it just wasn’t my day._  
  
 _“Oh. Right. Of course. Duh.” I stuttered, smiling as best I could under the circumstances, when all I really wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die, “I mean, you're the new me, huh?”_  
  
 _“Yeah.” Gail smiled and shrugged her shoulders._  
  
 _“But you can totally come and hang with us.” Peter added. It was a token gesture but at least I wouldn’t be going on my own. Perhaps it was time to take Suzanna up on her offer._  
  
 _As soon as I left work I went around to my old apartment; having sublet it to Suzanna a few months before it gave me the opportunity to make sure my old roomie was still looking after the place as well as meeting some of the friends she’d said she could set me up with so that I didn’t have to go to Angelique’s party on my own._  
  
 _But that, along with the way most things were going on in my life, was also an absolute disaster. None of these men were Suzanna’s friends. For she had put an ad online, ‘Hombres, are you into plus size chica’s?’ And these men that were in my apartment had all answered it. I felt humiliated and a little lost, not to mention angry too. Suzanna tried to calm the situation down by offering to take me out to a couple of bars but I couldn’t do it anymore. I picked up my bag and left. As I began walking down the hall I had a fretful call from Mrs Howard._  
  
 _I went straight back to Hipster needing to speak with Peter, but instead I found Gail. “Hey, Gail? Where's Peter? I really need to talk to him.”  
  
“He should be back any minute, but we're leaving for a group meeting, so I doubt he'll have time to talk.”_  
  
 _I wasn’t exactly happy with her attitude. “Well, he'll have to make time. This is pretty important.”_  
  
 _“So is this meeting.” I heard her say._  
  
 _I turned at the sound of his footfall into the room. “Peter, hey.” I looked briefly back at Gail before lowering my voice. “Uh, look, I just got off the phone with your mom. I think you should talk to her. She's really upset.” I asked of him._  
  
 _“She called you. Of course.” He hesitated, “look, uh I don't know why she's trying to involve you, but I'd really rather not talk about it right now.”_  
  
 _He made to move past me but I blocked his way, “Peter. Your mother's really hurting. I think she just wants you to hear her out.”_  
  
 _Gail was now at my side. “No offense, but maybe we should just let Peter work out his own problems.”_  
  
 _I saw red, I couldn’t let this woman that Peter barely knew take over his life like this. “Um, no offense, but maybe you should just butt out and let Peter answer for himself, okay?”_  
  
 _“Betty, you're being incredibly rude.” I stared at him incredulously, “Gail's just trying to help me. She's my friend.”_  
  
 _What was happening here? I couldn’t work it out. “Yeah, so am I.” I reminded him. “Peter, your mom needs you right now. But, no. Instead you're listening to your new friend Gail? Is this like when I asked you to go to the party because I can't stand to be there alone with Phil, and, no, you're taking your new friend Gail?”_  
  
 _“Okay, stop it.” He said pointedly, looking at me as if I was a petulant child, “I don't know what's going on with you. I don't need this drama in my life, okay?”_  
  
 _I watched him look towards Gail, her face triumphant but sympathetic to the way he dealt with my challenge. It was as if I didn’t know him anymore, I couldn’t look at him and I certainly couldn’t stand to be anywhere near him. We were supposed to be friends and now we were nothing. My heart was breaking. I stormed out of his office and towards the elevators, calling Mrs Howard to let her know that I was unsuccessful in getting Peter to talk to her. She thanked me for my help, giving me some small comfort but it couldn’t stop the ever widening hole that was crushing me from the inside out._  
  
Daniel blinked back at the tears that had begun to form, how could he have been so insensitive?  
  
 _By the time I got home and had spoken to Suzanna, I realised that I was just better off not going to the party at all. No one would miss me, Phil was going with someone else, Peter had Gail, and I was better off not putting myself through the heartache and pain that seeing them there with their respective plus one’s would ultimately do to me. But my sister and nephew had other ideas and they soon had me stoked enough to want to go to a party Angelique had personally invited me to._  
  
 _The following evening, dressed in a creation of my nephew’s design and my hair neatly glossed and styled so it hung over my right shoulder, I entered that party as if I owned it. Suzanna found me as I was deciding upon a particular hors d’oeuvre, wildly floundering about something she wished to tell me but as I looked towards the door I found myself looking at Phil and his plus one, a thin stick of a girl with spindly legs and arms. It hurt, seeing them there together, colour coordinated as they were, but not as much as I thought it would do. By the time Suzanna had told me how pretty she thought I looked I needed to take cover. My best course of action was to find someone to talk to so I moved through the apartment looking for anyone that seemed interesting._  
  
 _As Angelique started her speech about why she was raising money for underprivileged kids, I couldn’t help but notice the looks that passed between Peter and his mother. There was so much pain on both sides and it took everything I had to not go to them both and to help sort things out. But it was too much for me and I snuck out of the way, getting myself a drink and waiting for the talking to end. Once the formalities had finished, I walked back through the apartment happening upon Peter and Gail, chatting amongst themselves as he and I had done on so many occasions before. A red hot poker seared through my core but I wasn’t about to let them get me down. I moved purposefully towards them, a smile encompassing my face as I neared them. “Hi.” Both Peter and Gail eyed me with suspicion. “Gail, I believe I owe you an apology. I'm very glad Peter has found someone that he can trust and rely on. I hope we can be friends.”_  
  
 _“I'd like that.” Gail replied, just as her phone began to ring, “I should get this. I'll let you two have a minute.”_  
  
 _Peter stepped in front of me, “thank you for saying that.” I smiled briefly, before he continued, “I'm sorry about the way we left things yesterday. I didn't realize how weird it was gonna be for you to watch someone take over your old job, but I get it. I do. If it's any consolation, it's pretty weird for me, too.”_  
  
 _“Right. Well I know that you're going through something really difficult, Peter. I'm just glad that you don't have to do it alone.”_  
  
 _“Thanks.” He smiled back, taking two glasses of champagne from the waiter and handing one to me. We chinked glasses before taking a sip, his eye’s never leaving mine. Our friendship was a long way from being completely repaired but it was a start, at least we were able to chat as if nothing had happened. I took my leave when Gail returned and as I walked away from them I hoped that it wouldn’t take too long to get back what Peter and I had shared before, after all we had been through a lot together._  
  
 _But there was also another demon I had to slay that night too; Phil. I was on the side lines dancing, happy in my solitude when he came up to me. We chatted for a time, he about the girl he’d brought with him, me about being there alone. We agreed that it was good just being friends, it was better that way, even though I didn’t feel it and I wasn’t sure that he did either. The last thing I was going to do though was let him see it, so I left him there as I found a spot on the dance floor and danced away to the song I loved, happy with the knowledge that things seemed to have appeared to have gone back to normal, at least for the time being._  
  
Daniel smiled, remembering watching Betty dancing alone, wondering if he should join her seeing as Gail had needed to use the ladies room and had left him nursing his drink. He closed his eyes, the vision of her in the animal print dress that Justin had a hand in upcycling, the way her hair shone in the firelight, the feeling that he’d wanted to reach out and smooth the sometimes unruly tresses from out of her face with the back of his hand.  
  
And that’s when he’d noticed Hartley staring at her like some lovesick puppy, Matt’s eyes only moving away from her when he’d realised that Daniel was watching him intently, before quickly turning his attention back to his date and crossing the living room towards her to hand her a drink. When Daniel’s eyes went back to Betty she was still dancing, blissfully unaware that both Daniel and Matt had been observing her. “I should’ve gone to you then, but I wasn’t ready.” He sighed, picking his reading up from where he’d left off.  
  
 _But over the coming weeks I would find it increasingly difficult, watching Suzanna and Phil get closer to one another and Peter being pulled further and further away from me and the people that loved him by Gail and the cult that he was fixated upon. And in the midst of everything, my feelings were being splattered around, I no longer felt in control, I needed something to ground me but I had no idea what. I only hoped that whatever it was, it would happen soon._  
  
Daniel put the book down, emitting another heavy sigh before looking out at the snow filled clouds and the flakes that were continuing to fall thick and fast. If only Betty was there with him, keeping him company, helping him enjoy this solitude because with the snowfall as it was there was no way that Becks and Gabriella were ever going to be able to leave, at least for the next few days and he wasn’t sure how he was going to cope.  
  
“Thank you,” he turned sharply at the simple but soft words, seeing Gabriella stood by the entrance to the dining area of the kitchen, a long silky robe that he felt sure was his mother’s covering her form.  
  
“What?” He asked.  
  
“For letting us stay. Thank you.”  
  
“It’s fine. Where else could you have gone?” He shrugged, watching her grab a clean mug from off the side and pouring herself some coffee.  
  
She ventured further into the room, placing her cup down on the dining table and taking a seat. “You’re still reading that. How far have you got?”  
  
“I don’t know,” he looked down at the marked page, “about two thirds of the way through.”  
  
“I meant which part in the story.” She smiled.  
  
“Oh, I’m at the point where I’m getting drawn into the cult and being a jackass to Betty.” He mused.  
  
Gabriella nodded, “but she always forgives you.”  
  
“It certainly seems that way.” Daniel countered, “did you finish it?”  
  
“Yes, about a week ago. I especially liked the part where she realised she was in love with you.” She said, “you’re not quite there yet but I’m sure you’ll enjoy that bit too.”  
  
“Gabriella,” Daniel started, “I’m … I’m sorry … about what happened.”  
  
“It’s fine, I was angry for a while but I’m ok now.” She looked pensive, “how are you doing?”  
  
“I’m ok,” he said dismissively.  
  
“Ok? Really? I saw the newspapers with the happy couple smeared all over them.”  
  
He sighed again, “she said I needed to have faith in her but I could obviously never compete against him in the end.”  
  
Gabriella laid a hand on his arm, “you know I still love you.”  
  
“And what about Becks?”  
  
“We’re having fun.”  
  
“Does he know that?” Daniel asked. “I’m sorry Gabriella, if the reason you’re with Becks is to see if you can find a way back to me then I have to tell you, it’s not going to happen. I love Betty, I always have and I always will. Nothing will stop that. Ever. And if by some small chance the stuff in the papers is made up and Betty isn’t marrying him then I’ll be here waiting for her.”  
  
Gabriella drained some of the coffee from her cup. “Well, thanks for being honest. I guess as soon as the roads are cleared Becks and I will go to town and find a place to stay.”  
  
“You don’t have to.”  
  
“I know, but there’s not much point in staying is there?” She asked emphatically.  
  
Daniel shook his head. “I suppose not.”  
  
She got up from the table, “we’ll keep out of your way as much as possible,” she said before heading out of the room as quietly as she’d entered it. He stared after her for a moment before returning to look out of the window, perhaps he should think about going home when the weather cleared a bit. After all, his mother had mentioned that there was some misunderstanding, perhaps he did have everything wrong.  
  
Well, he wasn’t going to think about it now. Even if the roads were cleared in the next few days his main reason for being in Aspen was to clear his head and finish reading Betty’s book. He opened up the tome and returned to where he’d left off.  
  
 _It had been several weeks since Angelique’s party and the somewhat tenuous stalemate that Peter and I had found ourselves in. The cult had been sucking him further into their fold, the leader was sitting in on meetings and helping Peter make decisions that were not based on anything that made good business sense. And with Gail as gatekeeper, it was difficult to get through even this small barrier just to say ‘hi’._  
  
 _A discussion between Peter’s mother and myself highlighted the fact that we were both very worried about him and his dealings with this community, but neither one of us had any idea how we were going to extract Peter from within its grasp. That was until Phil, prompted by a conversation with Suzanna, contacted Mrs Howard and told her of his involvement with a similar organisation when he was in Canada. The leader of both, we realised, were one in the same and he was drugging ‘celebrity’ followers to get what he wanted from them; namely money and connections._  
  
 _Phil offered himself up as a diversion somewhat reluctantly but with a little coaxing he put himself in the firing line for us. Mrs Howard, Suzanna and myself slipped into the community building undetected whilst the guards on duty surrounded Phil and took him down. On our way up and through the structure I lost my compatriots to a group meeting as I continued to try and locate Peter. I searched everywhere, through every room, but he wasn’t there._  
  
 _By the time we three exited the building, Phil had used his one call from his police cell to speak with Suzanna. Another terse conversation with Phil had me surmising that there was only one possible place that Peter could be. His dead wife’s apartment. Suzanna went to aid Phil with his release whilst Mrs Howard and I travelled to Brooklyn._  
  
 _As soon as we reached the address we banged and thumped on the door, crying out Peter’s name at the tops of our voices. Finally, the door opened and we gained access, Mrs Howard’s menacing tone threatening the cult leader as I pushed my way past them and into the room. Peter was talking to his wife, a position that Gail had assumed in front of him as he talked to who he thought was Amy. I pushed Gail forcefully out of the way taking her place before speaking to Peter as if I was Amy and asking him to let his wife go._  
  
 _But he couldn’t without a proper farewell, marking the event with protestations of love and a searing kiss. I was so taken with the moment that I was totally unaware that his lips were nearing mine until they were upon my mouth, massaging and caressing in such a sweet manner that it took everything within me to keep my legs from buckling and falling over. No one had ever kissed me like that in my whole life and I suddenly knew what it was that had attracted so many women to him._  
  
 _I’m sorry to say that when he questioned me about that kiss several days later, I lied. I made up some excuse about being a lot shorter than his wife and that he’d made contact with my eyebrow in his drugged state when he’d envisioned kissing her; I feared that if I told him the truth then more would come tumbling out of its own accord. And I didn’t believe that he was in the right place to hear my declaration at that time. Besides, what would I tell him? I was hardly aware of what was truly going on with my own feelings especially as I also appeared to be jealous of Phil and Suzanna at the same time. I was totally perplexed, and a trip to the Bahamas to shoot the latest promotional layouts for several new signings didn’t help either._  
  
 _As friends, Peter and I seemed to be getting along much better, we were talking again and one conversation turned quite swiftly into discussing getting him back out in the field as well as on the next available horse. I secretly desired that I could help him personally but my workload kept me away from the poolside bar of the resort that we were staying in so the opportunity never arose. Add to that that everything seemed to be spinning uncontrollably when I finally confronted Suzanna about her relationship with Phil and anyone that knew me could tell I was in a right mess. At the culmination of mine and Suzanna’s disagreement we found ourselves at the top of the tallest flume. Suzanna laid down a challenge, we would race each other and the winner would get Phil. I agreed._  
  
“Oh my God, why did you never tell me you’d done that?” Daniel exclaimed, sniggering at the thought of Amanda and Betty racing down a water slide. “I’d have loved to have seen that.”  
  
 _By some amazing stroke of luck, my fully clothed body managed to make it down the slide quicker than Suzanna. I was ecstatic and vociferously jubilant, but my celebration fell on deaf ears and I upset Suzanna more than I imagined I ever could. I still considered her my friend and as such I had treated her with total disrespect because I had no conception that she actually felt something for Phil. He arrived poolside, I left them to it dejectedly, only to be told by Dean that the shoot was in disarray and Angelique had gone missing._  
  
 _I spent the rest of the day and most of the evening attempting to keep the signings away from the bar but I grossly underestimated what it would take one person to do, seeing as every one of my colleagues was more intent on partying into the small hours than worrying about the job they had been brought down to the island to do. Single handedly I encouraged the starlets to dance and enjoy themselves whilst also attempting to relieve them of their drinks. But it was too much and I ended up being pushed aside, quite literally, into the unsuspecting but not unwelcoming laps of several male vacationers. I made my apologies as I struggled to untangle myself from within their clutches only to be rescued by the one person that I thought I had lost for good. Phil._  
  
 _I took his proffered hand, before being pulled within his arms and found his mouth crushing against mine. For several moments I was confused, dazed even, “What about Suzanna?” I managed to ask._  
  
 _“She’s the one that sent me,” he said before his hand gently circled my neck, his fingers catching in my hair and brought me to him for another electric kiss. All thoughts of my duty now gone, we slowly slipped away and ended up in my hotel room, shedding clothing and inhibitions as rapidly as I’d flown down that flume earlier on that day. Our lengthy abstinence from one another obviously fuelled our respective desires and we spent several hours making love well into the early hours of the morning, only falling asleep in each other’s arms when we were both finally spent._  
  
 _And so it began, again. A tumultuous, passion filled relationship with a man I had wanted back in my arms and my bed ever since he had caught me kissing my ex. But I had forgotten the sacred rule, the one thing that every person forgets when they try to piece back a relationship that should have stayed ended in the first place. Never go back._  
  
 _Had I’d heeded these three little words then the prospect of having a home and family with Phil wouldn’t have filled me with dread. The pregnancy scare that, quite frankly, shook me to the core would never have seemed so distasteful and his subsequent leaving would have been slightly more bearable. But as I had chosen to take him back, every last one of those events would take their toll on me and I was once again left alone, miserable and disheartened with my stupid decisions in love. I needed something to bring me out of this funk._  
  
 _Maybe a karaoke party for my apartment building would help, especially as I had inadvertently allowed burglars into the block and they had stolen from several of my neighbours. It didn’t go particularly well, especially when we realised that we were now caught up in a building that we couldn’t escape from when the security system I had insisted the super install went down as the city blacked out. My only saving grace was that I was able to call my sister’s boyfriend and get him to help me break out so that Dean could get his reworked artwork over to Hipster and onto Angelique’s desk before the deadline ended for the senior position he was applying for. He had lost his previous work when his laptop had been stolen._  
  
 _But I still didn’t quite feel myself, my party had been ruined by irritable neighbours and Suzanna holding her own black out party across the hall. Dean, although thankful for my help, was still as bitter towards me as he had ever been, my best friend Geri had made the move back across the Atlantic to be with her husband and family, and Peter and I still hadn’t really communicated since the Bahamas and Phil’s leaving._  
  
 _What happened next was just another one of those good/bad things that keeps popping up in my life. I had won a Blobby from the Black and Latina Organisation of Bloggers; my nomination, the best new online blog. Unaware that anyone was really reading my blog but ecstatic at the news that I’d won, I asked Peter if he would award me with my prize. Finally, we were talking again and he said that he would be honoured to help me out. A good thing._  
  
 _About an hour later, at the team meeting, Peter suggested that he and I work together on Hipster’s latest signing, Domino Shilpa, a strikingly beautiful, yet outspoken young female singer songwriter from LA, who had been signed up as soon as her YouTube video had gone viral. The song in her video was to be her first release and Peter and I had a lot of work ahead of us if we were ever going to find a concept that was right. Another good thing._  
  
 _As soon as I walked out of the meeting, I was met by one of the core ‘Lilyheads’ that loved my blog in order to interview me for their own publicity but I was somewhat lacking in finding anything or anyone to vent about. That was until Peter showed up to see how things were going and I asked him to help me out. Half an hour later, and Peter had embarrassed me with tales of how things had been when I’d first shown up, about how I looked with my funny hair and clothing and about how much of a ‘Polly Anna’ I actually had been. Peter’s closing statement had been, “If you had told me three years later she'd be an editor, I would've laughed you out of the room. Our Lily, she's really come a long way.” I thanked him before he dropped me in it further, “but to me, she'll always be my sweet little assistant, always on hand to get me my bagel.” He coughed from a dry throat. “Could you hand me the water?” He asked._  
  
 _I handed him the bottle, my feelings hurt at the insensitivity of his words. Was that all I was to him? Yet another blow to my distraught heart, the hairline fractures that had appeared over the last few weeks now growing wider as the reality of his words settled upon me. We weren’t anything more than friends and, in fact, after this I had trouble believing that we were even that either. All of the good had now been turned upside down. As he left the office, I headed back to my desk, my anger simmering._  
  
 _When I got home I was surprised to find Iris waiting for me with a bottle of cheap champagne. I told her of my frustrations and she hinted that Peter probably never meant anything insensitive by what he had said. Feeling that she was probably right I put it all aside and carried on as normal._  
  
 _And at work the next day I reminded myself that I was there to do my job, and do it well. I had thoroughly prepared for the meeting with Domino and as Peter and I walked down to the studio where the shoot was to take place I realised it was a good job that I had. I wasn’t sure how or what Peter was going to do but he certainly hadn’t spent his evening and the two hours we’d had before the meeting to do exactly as I had. Things were about to get messy._  
  
 _Domino called him on his lack of preparation, but he smoothed it over with his charm and winning smile before attempting to prise my folder from out of my tight grasp. He won that round but I wasn’t about to let him have it easy. Once the shoot had finished I took my chance, grabbing back my folder after he’d made some comment about being prepared and I followed that with, “well, if you’re so prepared then you won’t be needing this.” I sat down with Domino, discussing how she saw the concept taking shape and telling her of my ideas. So much for teamwork._  
  
 _By the end of the meeting, Peter and I were snipping at one another. He walked away from me, silently fuming as I tried to take in every last horrible word that he’d said to me. I was flabbergasted, hurt and extremely upset. I avoided him for the rest of the day, sinking myself into a pan of brownies when I went Queens to see mami and Iris. It wasn’t until I got home though and read a comment on my blog that I did the one unthinkable thing. I vented._  
  
 _By the time I spoke to Iris mid-morning, my blog had over five hundred hits and someone had uncannily worked out that I had indeed been writing about Peter Howard. The look that was plastered on his face by the time he was crossing the floor to my office could’ve definitely killed me and the telling off he gave me was deserving, his disappointment of me evident as he strode back to his own office in order to head off the media attack that would obviously ensue._  
  
 _I hated myself. I had never felt so vulnerable and alone as I did at that moment and I hoped I would never feel that way again. After giving Peter the time to cool off, I went in search of him, finding him in his office still attempting to clear up the mess I had created. “Hey.” I said, standing in the doorway. He looked up at me. “Look, I know I can't take back what I did, But I wrote a retraction, and …”_  
  
 _Peter cut me off, “really? Does it include an explanation as to why you did all this? Because that's the one part I really don't get, Lily.”_  
  
 _“Look, I know you're mad, and I'm sorry, but there is a reason that I did it. You really hurt my feelings.”_  
  
 _“Your feelings?” He stood up, his voice raising a couple of notches. “Lily, this isn't about your feelings.  
This is about you doing serious damage to my reputation as the head of Meade publications. I know you think you and your award are the centre of the universe, but you have to wake up. It's not a big deal.”_  
  
 _“Forget it.” I burst out; when it boiled down to it everything was always about Peter anyway. “Forget my retraction. Forget my apology. Forget I ever asked you to present the award, 'cause if that's how you feel, I really don't want you there anyway.” I started to walk away from him, there was no way I was going to let him see me cry._  
  
 _“Fine. That's the last place I'd ever want to be.” I heard him say, as I stepped over the threshold and slammed his office door shut behind me._  
  
 _Later on that evening as I sat on the front row with my family at the low rent place near Wendy’s which had the cupcakes, I was watching the train wreck of my awards ceremony take shape in slow motion. A drag queen, dressed up as Angelique, would be presenting me with my award as the rest of the twenty strong audience fiercely held onto burritos and red framed glasses awaiting Peter’s arrival, only too well aware that he wasn’t going to show._  
  
 _And then to my surprise he did, stopping ‘Angelique’ in his tracks and taking his rightful place behind the podium. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing there. “Good evening.” He began as the crowd cried out obscenities at him and began booing, as well as throwing some of their burritos and glasses at him. “I almost didn't come here tonight._  
  
 _I heard my interviewer yell out, “we don't want you!”_  
  
 _“Yeah, get out of here.” Someone else shouted as a couple more burritos flew over our heads towards Peter._  
  
 _“Because the woman I’m about to introduce to you I respect and admire and adore, also happens to intimidate the hell out of me.” He said, his eyes finding mine and never leaving me until I dropped my head in embarrassment. “This may come as a surprise to her, but it shouldn't have come as a surprise to me.” He paused and sighed, “Lily Cervantes has done more in three and a half years than I've done in my entire life, which is why I couldn't help but feel a little threatened. Lily is a force of nature. A positive one, like sunshine, but a force nonetheless. I think we're all very lucky to have her shining on us.” I caught his look this time until it was broken by the burrito that hit him on his shoulder, “okay, that hurt.” He picked up the award narrowly missing the next flying object. “So.”_  
  
 _“Go home, loser!” I heard someone else say as unperturbed Peter carried on._  
  
 _“It is my great pleasure to present this award to Lily Cervantes.”_  
  
 _My family began cheering and clapping, then everyone else joined in, “go, Lily! Yay, Lily! Whoo!” As I stood up from my seat, made my way to the podium and accepted my award. Peter was about to leave when I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Thank you, Peter.” I said as warmly as I could, “and thank you to everyone at the black and Latina organization of bloggers.”_  
  
 _“Latina?” I heard one of the audience say, “I thought the ‘l’ stood for lesbian.”_  
  
 _“As proud as I am to be here today, I just want to say that we're not here celebrating me tonight as much as we're here celebrating what blogs can do. Sure, they can be used to thoughtlessly attack people from a seemingly safe vantage point,” I turned to Peter, watching one of his beautiful smiles break across his face, “which is very regrettable. But they can also make it possible for someone who has something to say but doesn't have a TV station or a major magazine to still make their voice be heard, and I think that's really important, even if it is just seventy one people listening.”_  
  
 _Peter leant across to me. “Actually, it's seventy two. I read it, it’s really good.”  
  
“Let her talk, jerk!” Another member of the audience shouted out._  
  
 _“Please don't be mad at Peter. All he did in his interview was remind me of who I used to be, and that was really embarrassing. But now I realize that I have to love that girl that I was because she made me who I am now. That's why none of you should be ashamed of who you are. Because the misfits and the weirdoes of today are the world changers of tomorrow.”_  
  
 _“Who says we're weirdoes?” The girl who I’d sat in front of before stood and asked._  
  
 _“Oh, that's not what I meant.” I pleaded._  
  
 _“Homophobe! Get her!” She said, as burritos and red glasses began flying towards both Peter and I again._  
  
 _“I didn't …” I began, in a vain effort to calm everyone down, “Aah! Aah!”_  
  
 _“Betty, get down.” Peter shouted, pulling me under his wing and sheltering me from the pelting, “run!” He ordered as he pulled me out of there and out onto the street. We ran several blocks until we saw a small park and ran into it, hiding behind the bushes for several minutes just in case we had been followed._  
  
 _My cell vibrated in my pocket and I took it out. “It’s from mami,” I said, smiling with relief, “the coast is clear.”_  
  
 _Peter took my hand and walked over to a secluded bench. “I’m so sorry, Lily.” He said, as soon as we’d taken a seat._  
  
 _“It’s fine, really!” I said, my face dropping to the phone still in my hands, turning it slowly._  
  
 _“No, it’s not. I was a complete arse.” He sighed, placing one hand over mine and a finger under my chin to bring me up to face him. “What I did was uncalled for, especially with everything that you’ve been through recently. I know that losing Matt has been hard for you, and Geri. I also know that we haven’t spent as much time together as perhaps we should’ve done since coming back from the Bahamas. Why don’t we make sure we have at least one lunch and one dinner together a week so that we’re able to catch up? What do you say?”_  
  
 _I grinned, “that sounds like a great idea. I’ll get Amanda to pencil something in for lunch early next week. I’m free for dinner tomorrow, if that’s good for you?” I asked eagerly._  
  
 _“Tomorrow’s great,” his smile mirroring mine. “How about we go straight from the office?”_  
  
 _“Ok,” I answered, getting up from my seat and making my way back towards the street, hoping to get a taxi quickly. Peter followed, waiting with me on the sidewalk._  
  
 _As the hailed cab pulled up to me, Peter opened the door. “See you tomorrow, Lily.” That perfect smile still fixated upon his face._  
  
 _“Goodnight, Peter. See you tomorrow.” I watched him intently as he closed the door, answering the driver with my address as he pulled away onto the road. Peter was still smiling, watching the car roll away until we could no longer feel the connection between us. I sat back in the seat, my eyes closed as I thought back over the words he had used in his speech. Intimidated. Respected. Threatened. Admired. A positive force of nature. Someone he adored. My heart skipped a beat, he adored me, worshipped me, loved me even. Why use such a word unless it were true, the connotations of using such a word filling me with curiosity. Did he perhaps now feel for me what I had felt for him? Were we finally ready to step over the last hurdle or would we continue to tiptoe around each other until something extraordinary happened?_  
  
 _I got out my phone and typed up a quick text. ‘Thank you for tonight Peter, it meant more to me than you could ever know.’_  
  
 _His response came quickly, ‘no problem Lily, I would do anything to make you happy.’_  
  
 _I smiled as I read, a second message from him soon turning up. ‘You are happy, aren’t you?’_  
  
 _‘Ecstatic,’ I replied._  
  
 _‘Good, me too.’ Came the response, then ‘love you.’_  
  
 _Those two words threw me for a loop, he had never said them to me and I wasn’t sure of the context. I paid the driver, stepping out onto the sidewalk and making a move towards the door of my apartment building. As soon as I was in my living room, I sent a response. ‘Me too. C U 2morrow.’_  
  
 _‘See you then,’ he replied, ‘sweet dreams.’ I smiled, knowing full well that I would, the place under my chin where his fingertip had rested was still tingling from his touch, the quiet empty park that we had found would be the backdrop and I knew that I would soon see myself kissing him in my semi-conscious state of sleep._  
  
 _I readied myself for bed, slipping in between the covers and turning out the light. My eyes felt heavy from the sudden enveloping darkness but there was still one thing I had to say to the night. “I love you, Peter. Sweet dreams.”_  
  
“Oh my God,” Daniel said in understanding, closing the book and looking up to see Becks watching him intently as he sipped on a cup of coffee, “she knew I loved her even before I did.”  
  
“That’s great, buddy.” Becks smirked, “and now the whole world knows too. Not sure I would be so happy about everyone knowing my dirty laundry.”  
  
“Well, that’s the difference, Becks. If a woman wrote about you it would  _all_ be dirty laundry.”  
  
“Hmm,” Becks agreed, “I suppose it would.” He leant against the counter, “can I ask you something?”  
  
“Sure,” Daniel nodded.  
  
“It’s Gabriella, was she ever really moody with you for like half the time and then all over you the next.”  
  
“Err, no.” Daniel smirked, “she was occasionally overbearing with me, but I just think that’s a female thing. You know they get their claws into you and then start trying to get their own way as subtly as they can.”  
  
“Does Betty do that?”  
  
“At work she would on occasion but I expected that, how else was she going to get me to toe the line? But we’ve hardly had a chance to experience that privately, Becks. Not that I think I’d mind Betty being like that with me. I love her, it kind of comes with the territory. Is there some reason you’re asking me all of this?”  
  
“I like her,” Becks watched Daniel’s eyebrows rise up an inch, “a lot.”  
  
Daniel smiled, “does she know this?”  
  
“I haven’t exactly had time to talk to her about it yet. I just don’t understand the mood swings, I’m never with anyone long enough to understand them.”  
  
Daniel shrugged his shoulders, “perhaps she’s due … err … on.”  
  
“On?” Becks asked.  
  
“You know,” Daniel flapped his hands around a bit, “on.” Noticing Becks still hadn’t got his meaning, he carried on, “like Maria Devlin on spring break when we were junior’s, she’d just started.”  
  
“Oh, right. That.” Becks smiled, “of course, why didn’t I see that coming.”  
  
Daniel shook his head, “Becks are you sure you’re ready for something like this?” he teased.  
  
“I don’t know, but something is pulling me towards this woman like nothing ever has before, and I see you, all settled with one woman, and I begin to wonder what that’s really like.” Becks pursed his lips, “I should speak to her, don’t you think?”  
  
“Yes,” Daniel nodded, “that would be a good idea.” He watched as his friend turned and ran back out of the room and up the stairs. “Good luck, Becks.” He called out after him, and then to himself. “Who’d have thought it, Gabriella, eh?”  
  
.oOo.  
  
By the time Betty had reached her meeting at the clothing store that Claire had kindly set up for her, she had realised that the only other place she would be able to get to that night would be a hotel. When she’d gone to the hire car office, the staff had told her that there was no way that she was going to get to her destination until the weather had calmed down and the roads had been cleared. So, she’d decided that the best course of action was to take a shuttle into town and take it from there.  
  
And as she stood just inside the entrance, her body shivering from the chilled air, her thin autumn coat soaked through from the snowstorm that she had been caught in, she hoped that she would at least be able to get some clean warm clothing quickly.  
  
A petite blonde around ten years Claire’s junior made her way over to Betty. She stuck out her hand for Betty to take, her smile radiant. “You must be Betty, I’m Delilah.” She gave her the once over, “you look like an eight?”  
  
“Wow, how did you …”  
  
“I’ve been doing this job a long time,” Delilah’s smile was kind.  
  
“Of course, I’m sorry,” Betty apologised. “Do you have anything in my size?”  
  
Delilah threaded her arm through Betty’s, “I’ll let you into a little secret. There are still a lot of women I sell to each season that haven’t got a clue when they’ve put on twenty pounds. I always make sure I have plenty to fit everyone, even if I have to lie a little bit and replace the sizing tabs.” They walked through the store towards a private area in the back. “Heather, John,” she called out to the staff, “I’m with my private client for the rest of the afternoon. Please make sure that everything is locked up if we’re still sorting through things when it’s time to go.” Walking through, Delilah closed the door behind her, “now we can have some fun.”  
  
She walked around the circumference of the room where several racks had been set up with various bits of clothing for every occasion. “Claire mentioned that you’d lost your wardrobe.”  
  
Not strictly true, she still had stuff. It was just in London. “Erm, well my suitcase went missing.”  
  
“Ah, right. That helps.” She looked back to Betty smiling. “Ok, the dressing room is through there take these pants and jeans and decide on a couple,” she said handing her half a dozen hangers. “I’ll be back in a moment.”  
  
The door closed behind Delilah as she went back out into the store. Betty went into the dressing room, tried on the pants and decided on a pair of black dress pants and a pair of dark blue jeans. She looked at the price tags, nearly fainting at the three figure sums on each of the labels. By the time she came back out, Delilah had returned. All manner of lingerie, nightwear and footwear now littered the large leather couch that took up one wall. “Well, did you find anything?”  
  
“These two,” Betty said, “but I can’t really afford them.”  
  
“You’re not.” Delilah smiled, “I don’t know what you did for that family but Claire loves you as if you were her own. I’ve been instructed to put everything on the Meade account.” Finding the arm of the couch, Betty sat down. “You’re not used to this, are you Betty?”  
  
Betty shook her head, “no. Even with my better job and higher salary and bonuses, I’m still very frugal with my money. If I have to spend over thirty five to forty dollars on a pair of jeans in London, I feel guilty about it. And the Meade’s owe me nothing.”  
  
“I’ve known Claire Meade for a long time, Betty. She will only ever do something like this if there is a very good reason why. You have obviously given her a good reason so take the gift with the same grace that it has been given to you with. Besides, you obviously have an eye for key pieces. Use this time wisely to buy items that will be able to find a place in your wardrobe for years to come. That way you’ll get good wear and value out of your clothes, just like your forty dollar jeans in London.” Delilah offered, “and then if you’re still feeling guilty then why not buy one item yourself.”  
  
“I don’t know if my card will work,” Betty said solemnly. “And then I have to find somewhere to stay as the roads are blocked up to the lodge.”  
  
“Let’s worry about one thing at a time.” Delilah suggested. “Ok, tops, blouses and jumpers to go with the pants.” Delilah scanned through the racks, picking out a selection that she felt would suit Betty’s colouring before handing them to her. Betty smiled, she felt so lucky to be a part of this wonderful family for all of their problems. She had witnessed something that very few had ever seen, the Meade’s may not have been the perfect family but they had huge hearts and unconditional love was abound for her; all she had had to do was infiltrate them, pull down the barriers and help them to understand exactly what they were capable of.  
  
And it was that thought that she was still thinking about when she finally made it to the hotel restaurant that night, eating Italian food by herself as she watched the snow continue to fall outside of the window. She sipped at her glass of Pinot wishing that Daniel was there with her, sharing a plate of tiramisu, his hand slowly caressing her cheek before he brushed his lips gently against hers. She wondered what he would make of the designer clothing, of the black knitted dress she was wearing, and the thigh high suede boots. How he would purposely take in the way the fabric moulded over her body and clung to her curvy frame. She thought about how he would help her out of it to reveal the equally tight lycra body she was wearing underneath, how his fingers would feel against her skin as he slid the straps down over her arms and proceeded to roll the sheath down, revealing her body, and waiting readily for his purposeful caresses.  
  
She sighed heavily, taking another sip from the wine and thinking about the lingerie she had bought with her own money. Garry hadn’t yet cut off that supply so at least her guilt had been somewhat reduced with Delilah’s suggestion. Having noticed the silky lace ivory nightdress that hadn’t left much to the imagination, she knew that she had to have it, knowing  full well that if Daniel had been with her, he’d have insisted upon it himself. She smiled at the thought of them shopping together. “Maybe one day.” She said to herself.  
  
“Did you say something?” A voice said from a table behind her. It was easy for her to find the owner seeing as they were the only two people in the room.  
  
She eyed the man suspiciously, her mouth opening slightly before she recognised who he was, even in the dim light. “Becks? Beckett Scott?” She asked.  
  
“Yeah?” He asked confused, “look I don’t know who you are but I’m sorry for what I did.” His hands up in front of him in defence.  
  
Betty’s brows furrowed, “what did you do?” She questioned.  
  
“Nothing, obviously,” he visibly sighed. “Do I know you?”  
  
“It’s been a few years since we met, but you know me, sort of.” Betty smiled, this was so much fun. “Do you want to join me, its pointless sitting at two tables when the staff probably want to clear up soon anyway?”  
  
Becks picked up his plate of spaghetti and his beer before moving over to Betty’s table. “There is something familiar about you.” He grinned.  
  
“The last time I saw you was about eight years ago.”  
  
“Eight years ago? I was a mess eight years ago.” He twisted some of the spaghetti around his fork and brought it up to his mouth. “Can I have a clue?”  
  
“No, this is too much fun.” She giggled.  
  
“One word.”  
  
“Ok.” She thought for a second. “Bikini.”  
  
“Bikini, huh?” He leered over the table at her.  
  
“Sorry to disappoint, but I wasn’t wearing one.”  
  
“Oh,” he turned serious once again. “Another word?”  
  
“Mode.”  
  
“You weren’t wearing a bikini so you weren’t modelling.”  
  
Her eyebrows shot up, “I’m a bit short to be a model.”  
  
“Damn shame,” he sat back in his chair, “so if not a model, you must’ve worked there. One more word, pretty please?”  
  
“You really need another clue?” She asked, before she watched him nod his head. “Braces.”  
  
He looked deep in thought before dawning recognition had him leaning closer to her, “Betty?”  
  
She laughed, “so you do remember?”  
  
“Little assistant Betty, with the crazy hair and big red glasses. And those clothes that looked like they’d come from a garage sale?” He watched her smile falter, “what am I thinking, I’m sorry.”  
  
“It’s ok, I guess I was a little way out there for a while.”  
  
“Well, you look hot know. No wonder Daniel’s in deep.” Becks shook his head. “Shit, sorry Betty, I don’t know where my manners have gone to tonight. If it’s any consolation I know that Daniel was in love with you way before any of this happened,” he spun his hand around in the air in front of her. “There was many a time when he spoke about you with such reverence.”  
  
“Thanks Becks,” tears threatened as she swallowed back the lump in her throat.  
  
“Does he know you’re here?”  
  
She shook her head. “No, not yet. And I’d like it to stay that way for the moment.”  
  
“Your secret is safe with me.”  
  
“So, what are you doing here?”  
  
“It’s a long story.”  
  
Betty looked out of the window, the snow continuing to fall outside, “I have plenty of time, it would seem.”  
  
“In that case, let’s take these drinks through to the lounge and find a cosy spot near the fire. I’ll need to be settled in before I start.”  
  
“Why not.” She smiled, picking up her glass of wine and following him out into the lounge, thanking the restaurant staff as she left.  
  
They found a small alcove just big enough for the two of them and not too close to the roaring fire, settling down into the thick cushions and chatting as if they were the oldest of friends. The only time they stopped was when Becks got up to get a bottle of wine for them and two fresh glasses. “And that’s how it was left before you hiked out in that weather and came here?” Betty asked, shocked at the turn of events.  
  
“I couldn’t stay, Betty. I’m in love with her, not stupid.” Betty began laughing, “what’s so funny?” He seemed a little hurt.  
  
“I’m not laughing at you, it just struck me that with everything that Daniel and I have been through, what we’ve still got to go through when the road clears up so that I can go and see him, there’s always been love and forgiveness.”  
  
“I don’t know if I can forgive her.” He said quietly.  
  
“Then perhaps you don’t love her as much as you say you do.”  
  
“How do you know you love Daniel?”  
  
Betty sighed, “physically my heart aches for him but I know that when I see him it will just be a matter of time before that aching is replaced with this incessant beating that I’ll feel banging against my rib cage and thumping away in my ears. My palms will sweat, goose pimples will cover my skin and I’ll feel giddy for a little while. Mentally though, nothing that’s happened will make a scrap of difference to how I feel about him because I know that despite everything that he’s done or he’s been through, I’ll never stopped loving and forgiving him.” She smiled, “he has my heart, Becks. He’s had it for a long time, I just never wanted to admit it.”  
  
“So, if I wake up tomorrow and my heart aches.”  
  
“Then you need to fight for her. But I suggest that we go together when the weather clears up. I don’t think I’d be easily forgiven by your girlfriend if you ended up as a human popsicle out there.” She looked at him, “you never did tell me her name, do I know her?”  
  
“No,” he shook his head. That was one secret he was going to keep. “How about we get breakfast together tomorrow and compare notes.”  
  
“Ok,” she said, getting up from her seat and making her way across the room. “Breakfast it is.”  
  
“Goodnight, Betty.”  
  
“Goodnight, Becks.” She waved, before heading towards the stairs. Of all the people she ever imagined running into, Beckett Scott had not been one of them.


	7. Chapter 7

Daniel was sat in the comfortable, homely living room by a roaring fire, nursing a glass of scotch and mulling over the argument between Becks and Gabriella that he had only heard a very small portion of before Becks’ sudden departure.  
  
He had been cooking pasta when he’d heard the doors slamming above his head and the loud shouting that had suddenly filled the void at the top of staircase. Having turned the heat on the hob down to low, he went out into the hallway to investigate. Gabriella was stomping down the stairs, before reaching the bottom, turning and heading down the hallway and into the study, a sullen look plastered on her face. He followed her, stopping at the threshold. “Do you want to talk about it?”  
  
“No!” She spat out, lounging along the window seat, her nose almost touching the glass of the window as she watched the squally snow fall continuously outside. “I should never have come.”  
  
“Why did you?” Daniel asked softly, taking a few steps towards her and taking a seat on the corded chaise.  
  
“You know why, I told you this morning.” She looked back momentarily before turning back to the window.  
  
“You told Becks?” He asked incredulously, watching her nod her head. “What did he say?”  
  
“Not a lot.”  
  
“That was an awful lot of nothing that was being shouted about upstairs, Gabriella.” Daniel said calmly.  
  
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?”  
  
Resolutely, he stood, “ok, I will.” He replied, feeling a little like a father figure having to sort out a misunderstanding between his two errant teens. Walking back through into the hall, he noticed Becks pulling on his boots. “Where are you going?”  
  
“Out.” Becks shouted, pulling his thick coat around him before throwing his pack onto his back. “I’m hiking out of here.”  
  
“Becks, you can’t go out in this.”  
  
“Why not? I’ve been caught out in worse than this before, Danny. I can handle myself with some of the best of them. I haven’t spent all of my time taking pictures of pretty girls, you know? I’ve spent nights in the Sahara, canoed up the Amazon and the Zambezi, lived for two months in the Arctic, for Christ’s sake. I know what I’m doing.”  
  
“I know, man. But this is ridiculous. What happened?”  
  
“Ask Gabriella.”  
  
Daniel sighed. “I did already but she’s not talking.”  
  
Becks lifted his face to look dead into his friends eyes. “I told her I thought I was falling for her.” He shook his head, “but the look on her face, it was like she’d sucked on a lemon. I really thought we had something special going here but then I find out that the only reason she’s with me is to try and get back with you. She loves you.”  
  
“Yeah, she told me.” Daniel said, “I told her the feeling wasn’t mutual.”  
  
“When?”  
  
“This morning, when she came down for coffee.”  
  
“Bitch.” Becks breathed out, “she must have spoken to you before coming back to bed, waking me up and …”  
  
“I don’t want to know, thanks. The days of us championing our exploits are long gone.” Daniel cut in holding his hands up, “look, Becks, you could die out there.”  
  
“I’d rather take my chances out in that weather, than be stuck here with a woman that only wants me so she can be close to you. Thanks, but I’m way past sloppy seconds.” Becks watched Daniel wince before opening the door and wading outside. “I’ll be at my usual place propping up the bar when the two of you finally decide what the hell is going on and want to talk to me about it.”  
  
Daniel grabbed Becks’ arm. “As far as I’m concerned, there is nothing to discuss. Nothing Gabriella has to say will ever change how I feel.”  
  
Becks squared up to his friend, “I think you better talk to her first, get her to tell you what she told me. Then maybe we’ll have something to talk about.” He strutted off, leaving Daniel staring after him from the open doorway.  
  
He only just remembered the tomato sauce on the stove as he swung the heavy oak door shut and ran back into the kitchen, catching it before it caramelised on the bottom of the pan. From behind him, Gabriella made an appearance and sat at the counter. “I take it he’s gone.”  
  
“Yes,” Daniel said before turning to get a couple of pasta bowls out of the cupboard, “do you want something to eat?”  
  
She shook her head, frowning, “I didn’t want him to go.”  
  
Serving up a portion for himself, he picked up the dish, grabbed some cutlery and made his way over to the dining room table. “I know, but you can’t play people like that, Gabriella. It’s taken him a long time to realise what it is that he wants and all of a sudden you’re not that into him, especially after sleeping with him not an hour before. I think I’d be pretty pissed if you’d done that to me.”  
  
“I don’t know what’s up with me,” she shrugged, “I’ve been in this horrible mood since we split up and I guess I just needed something to get me out of it. But when Becks brought me here …” She left her sentence hanging.  
  
“We’ve already been over this, Gabriella. I don’t love you, I’d be fooling both of us if I said I ever could. My heart has been Betty’s for a long while …”  
  
She cut him off, “oh yeah, Betty, I forgot about her,” she rolled her eyes as her words dripped with sarcasm. Making her way over to the stove she dished out a portion for herself, “I think I’ll take this upstairs. You’re ok with me staying for a while until the weather clears at least?”  
  
“Of course, you can stay as long as you need. It’s bad enough that Becks has braved the elements without losing you in that weather as well.”  
  
“So, you do care?”  
  
“Absolutely, why wouldn’t I? Just because we broke up doesn’t mean I’d wish for something horrible to happen to you.” He sighed, “I just wish we could be friends.”  
  
She nodded, a half smile touching her lips, before picking up the bowl and a fork and walking out of the room leaving Daniel to amuse himself for the rest of the afternoon and into the night.  
  
Daniel turned to look out of the window, the reflection of the golden flames of the fire dancing against the pitch black exterior. He knew the snow was still falling heavily even though he couldn’t actually see it, the storm that was continuing outside was extremely reminiscent of everything that had been going on over the past few days since taking Betty to his bed. Hell, before that even, ever since he had seen her beautiful face in Barnes and Nobel’s window, if he was truly going to be honest with himself. Maybe if she hadn’t shown up he could have had a happy relationship with Gabriella. But who was he kidding. No-one would ever measure up to her. No-one had before and no-one would in the future. Betty was the only woman he could ever envisage spending his life with.  
  
Getting up from the sofa, he stretched out his bones and went in search of more alcohol, dropping in some ice and pouring himself another long shot of his favourite beverage into the cut crystal glass, before suddenly noticing that he wasn’t alone. “Would you like one?” He asked without turning around.  
  
“No, thanks,” Gabriella said, placing a glass of water on the table next to her as she sat down on the sofa opposite where Daniel had obviously been sitting. “I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier. About being friends.”  
  
“Ok?” Daniel asked, perplexed, taking in the comfortable jeans, thick woollen socks and fluffy, oversized sweater she was wearing, her hair loose over her shoulders.  
  
“I’d like to try. We had some good times together, didn’t we? Even before you asked me out on a date.”  
  
“Yeah, sure,” he smiled.  
  
“Remember when we all went to Callaghan’s, and then you, me, Debbie and Liam went back to Liam’s and we just talked all night.”  
  
“Yeah, it was like being back at college. I think I got about two hours sleep that night before having to drag my ass back into work the next day. I fell asleep in the editor’s meeting. Mom and Willi weren’t very impressed but at least I didn’t get balled out because I was with a girl.”  
  
“Technically you were with two, but that’s probably why your mother hated me.”  
  
“She didn’t hate you.” Daniel acknowledged.  
  
“She didn’t like me very much either.”  
  
“No, you’re right. She didn’t but …” Daniel stopped himself, his eyes shooting up to meet Gabriella’s in order to gauge her reaction.  
  
A puckered brow appeared, “I wasn’t Betty.”  
  
“No.” Daniel answered, before pausing, “look, Gabriella, I’m so sorry about this whole Betty thing.”  
  
“Daniel, no-one can help who they fall in love with. I just have to learn to accept that you and I weren’t meant to be together so that I can move on.”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Right,” she got up from her seat and picked up her glass, “I’m still a bit tired after the shoot and the excesses of being with Becks, so if you don’t mind I’m going to hit the hay.”  
  
“Goodnight,” Daniel said, watching her walk away as he sipped on his drink. If he didn’t know any better, she was up to something. “You’re just being paranoid,” he said to himself, picking up Betty’s book and opening it. If he was lucky he’d get another chapter down before he felt ready for bed too.  
  
.oOo.  
  
“You’ve never skied?” Becks asked, taking the proffered pancake and bacon that Betty couldn’t finish from her plate. “I can’t believe it.”  
  
Betty laughed, “why? I’m a girl from Queens, what on earth would I find exciting about a ski slope. My idea of fun and excitement growing up was getting across Queen’s Boulevard without getting killed,” she watched Becks eyebrows hitch up, his mouth adopted a lazy smile, “or getting that softball so far out of field that I could make a complete circuit, learning to drive a stick shift,” she continued, now noticing Becks laughing as she smiled wider with every memory, “wanting to kiss Bobby Talercio in the corridor at high school.”  
  
“Who? And does Daniel know about him?”  
  
“Yes and yes. He’s my brother in law. They met at my sister’s wedding.” She shook her head, “Bobby would’ve been my nephew’s father had he not been sent to juvie,” she paused for effect, “or if I’d given him and my sister a moment’s peace.”  
  
“Wow,” Becks sat back in his chair, “I thought Harvard was the place, constant partying, alcohol on tap, girls everywhere.”  
  
“Drugs?” Betty asked innocently.  
  
“There were, but Danny and I never touched them.”  
  
Betty smiled, “I guess your drug of choice was women?”  
  
“Yep, we were both pretty bad.”  
  
“Pretty bad? I remember the first Halloween I was at Mode. Daniel sent me off to question each one of the girls he’d slept with the previous week because he couldn’t find his watch.”  
  
“Seriously?”  
  
“Yeah,” Betty giggled, “I can laugh about it now, but then, having his boxers thrown at me and the accusations that came from all of those women? Well, let’s just say, ‘don’t give me that judgey butterfly look’ was a phrase coined by Daniel from then onwards whenever I gave him my ‘disappointed in him’ face.”  
  
“You really straightened him out.” Becks said seriously.  
  
She shook her head. “It wasn’t me.”  
  
“Come on Betty, he could never do anything without wondering if he’d let you down. So many times he would do something without thinking and then you’d ball him out over it.”  
  
“Well, I always knew there was a better person underneath all that swagger trying to get out. I just encouraged him to show up.” She smiled wistfully. “But I wasn’t the only one. Molly helped, having to look after a dying woman must have taken its toll on him. I can’t imagine being in that position knowing someone I loved was going to be gone permanently in a couple of months.”  
  
“But he had to piss off Connor in the process.”  
  
“That was unfortunate, but I think the whole situation made Daniel man up. Then there was DJ.”  
  
Becks nodded, “yeah, he turned out to be Alexis’ though.”  
  
“I know, but it did make Daniel realise that what he wanted was a proper home and family.”  
  
“Which he still hasn’t got.”  
  
Betty looked away, “no.”  
  
“Because he wants that with you.”  
  
Betty caught Becks eye, “I hope so.”  
  
Becks smiled, “I know so.”  
  
“Daniel was with Gabriella for nearly two years and she was pushing for a ring. Did he ever mention them talking about having a family?”  
  
Becks sat forward, “is it important to know about her?”  
  
“I guess I just wanted to scope out the competition.” Betty said.  
  
“You don’t get it, do you? Betty, you’re the competition. Gabriella was just a two year distraction, a woman Claire never particularly got on with, but a woman that Daniel settled for. He didn’t know you were going to come back into his life, he never thought he stood a chance even if you did. But for the last six years at least, no-one has ever held a candle up to you.”  
  
“So why didn’t he say anything earlier? Why didn’t he follow me to London?”  
  
Becks shrugged. “I don’t know. We all tried our best to get him to go to you but he wouldn’t. And I think as time went on it became harder for him to leave.”  
  
“All tried your best?” She had to know.  
  
“Yeah, there are loads of us wanting to see the two of you together. Me, Mrs Meade, Amanda, Tyler, Marc, half the editorial team that knew you, half of Meade, in fact. Let alone your family and even Wilhelmina.”  
  
“Wilhelmina? Why would she want that?”  
  
“Who knows, she’s mellowed since Daniel gave up Mode.”  
  
“Daniel gave up Mode?”  
  
“Betty, you can’t seriously tell me you didn’t know that.” Betty shook her head, “he gave it up just after the hundredth issue came out. Took over the keys to the kingdom, like dear old dad had wanted him to all those years ago. Did you not read his letter?”  
  
“What letter?” Betty asked, confused.  
  
“His final letter from the editor. I’m sure Amanda said she’d told you about it.”  
  
“Becks, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Betty said, “and we all know that Amanda dreams up a load of stuff, she probably dreamt up telling me. Had she told me I would’ve read it.” She fumbled with her phone trying to get a Wi-Fi signal. “I’ll have to take a look later if I can get onto the internet.” She placed it back onto the table, “so how are you feeling this morning?”  
  
“Well, if I didn’t have such a pretty companion then maybe I’d still feel like I’d been run over by a truck.”  
  
“Love can do that. It’s rough at times.” She placed her hand over his, “but if you can weather this storm then you’ll be ok.”  
  
Betty felt Becks turn his hand over so that hers was now sitting within his hold. “I’m not sure I want to. I mean, even after everything she’s done I want to forgive her. I’m not sure I can though.”  
  
Betty searched his face, “what did she do?” She noticed him hiding his face. “Who is it?”  
  
“It’s Gabriella.”  
  
“Oh.” She pulled her hand from his.  
  
“Before we argued, she’d been downstairs to speak with Daniel. When she came back she made love to me, then told me that the only reason she was with me was so that she could get back with him.”  
  
“Don’t you mean, get back  _at_  Daniel?”  
  
“No, with. She’s …”  
  
“So, they’re up at the lodge together. Just Daniel and Gabriella?” Tears swelled along her lashes.  
  
 “I’m sorry, Betty.” Becks leant across the table, offering her his napkin, “if it’s any consolation, he was adamant that no matter what she said he wouldn’t want to go back to her. You’re it for him. Go and read his letter, I’ll get breakfast.”  
  
She stood, picking up her phone and walking briskly away. In all fairness to Becks, she couldn’t blame him for wanting to keep that from her but she would’ve been like a dog with a rag if he hadn’t told her right away and that may have made things worse. So what to do, there was still no sign that the storm was going to let up, so she would have to wait to confront both Daniel and Gabriella but she at least could read his letter.  
  
Once she’d reached her room, she opened her laptop, got onto the internet and searched the Mode web pages for the hundredth issue. She flicked through the first few pages of the cyber magazine until it fell open on a recent black and white photo of Daniel, not a fish face in sight, his letter surrounding the picture and filling the page. She began to read, her smile widening with every sentence that he had written, each one securing her to him even more firmly than the previous one had. By the end of the last sentence she was grinning like a buffoon, her heart was in her mouth and she knew that everything Daniel had told her when they’d made love was true. Nothing would separate them, ever. Not Gabriella, despite the snow, and certainly not Garry. They were destined to be together, nothing could stop that.  
  
With her head still spinning and her heart beating wildly, she only just heard the faint knocking at her door. “Give me a second, Becks,” she called out, closing the lid of her laptop and heading for the door, not bothering to check the peep hole. “That’s odd,” she said to herself upon opening the door with no-one stood the other side, she walked out into the corridor and looked both ways, before turning, upon hearing the elevator open on her floor, to see Becks purposefully striding towards her.  
  
“You ok?” He asked, following her into her room.  
  
“Yes … and no.” She sat on the bed, her hands trembling.  
  
“Betty, what is it?” Becks sat next to her, his arm around her shoulders, attempting to give her what little comfort he could. “You read Daniel’s letter?”  
  
She nodded, “yes.” She smiled. “It was beautiful, he does love me.”  
  
“So what’s wrong?”  
  
“I don’t know, I just have this awful feeling that something terrible is going to happen.”  
  
“To who?”  
  
She stared him straight in the eyes. “Me!”  
  
.oOo.  
  
 _Having recently found out that Peter was now sleeping with Suzanna again under the pretence of ‘fun buddies’, by way of Peter walking out from the apartment across the hall at exactly the time I left for work, wearing nothing but his boxer shorts and a smile, I decided that I needed to do something about my own love life. Phil had left me broken hearted months before and I could no longer imagine that there was mileage between Peter and myself any longer. It was wrong to say that I didn’t love him, I did, very much indeed, but I just had to find a way to tolerate this latest blow._  
  
 _This acceptance came in the form of Ezra Babinski, a singer songwriter and actor who had had some success on Broadway and was now looking for an in into the mainstream music arena. It was easy to be attracted to him, he was smart, handsome and had a particular way with words that made me zone out whenever I thought about him, something that Peter was only too well aware of and had teased me constantly about once he had found out, despite my protestations that things between Ezra and me were strictly professional._  
  
 _But we couldn’t keep it professional, we had dinner, went to the movies, and had drinks, so long as it was out in New Jersey we could do anything. “You know, I have to admit,” I said as we returned back to my building one night, “all this sneaking around has been kind of fun.”_  
  
 _“Yeah.” Ezra smiled, but said nothing more on the subject. “Oh, I almost forgot. My orthodontist's card.” He handed over a business card in the shape of a huge grin, much like my own._  
  
 _“Cute.” I replied, holding the card up to my face demurely, before he kissed me goodbye. I turned to go up to my apartment once I’d shut the door and that’s when I noticed Peter had been watching us. “Peter, I know what this looks like, but I can explain.”_  
  
 _It seemed that this was the first time I had seen him disappointed in me, although I knew in truth it wasn’t. We crossed the hall to meet in the middle, both weighing up what to say next. “I think I can put two and two together. You begged me to let you look after a hot new artist. I finally agreed to it, and now I discover you're actually dating him.” He looked surprised and slightly angry._  
  
 _“In my defence,” he silently challenged me to carry on, “I have no defence.”_  
  
 _“I don't even know what to say to you.” He was so serious, “you could lose your music production license.”_  
  
 _“Oh, no! My music production license?” I cried out without thinking twice, that was until I saw the shadow of a smile touch his lips, and then the grin and laugh that followed. “What?” I hit him on the shoulder. “Peter!”_  
  
 _He looked me squarely in the eye, “you are so cute when you're mortified.”_  
  
 _But it was lost on me at that very minute as I blurted out, “you have no idea how stressed out I've been trying to keep this a secret from you.”  
  
“You're actually worried what I think? Lily, I'm here because I'm fooling around with my assistant.” I held up my hands not wishing to get details. “So my point was, I'm not one to pass judgment on anyone.” He moved passed me and opened the door, “just give me a little heads-up next time.”_  
  
 _I watched him go, before spinning on the spot and making my way up the stairs, mulling over the events up until that point, at least he was okay with me dating Ezra, or was he? Stopping in my tracks, and nearly taking out one of my neighbours in the process, I finally recollected the sentence that Peter had casually dropped into the conversation. ‘You are so cute when you’re mortified.’_  
  
 _“What the hell are you doing, dink?” My neighbour screamed at me as I took her by the arm and quickly ran up the stairs with her, depositing her in front of her door._  
  
 _My grin was wide, “he called me cute,” I said, biting down on my lower lip. “Peter thinks I’m cute.” I then shut up, quickly, hoping that my neighbour would stop looking at me as if I was some deranged lunatic, and that Suzanna hadn’t heard me squeal just in case this friends with benefits scenario she was playing out with Peter, wasn’t. On her part anyway. Having seen her fall for him once, I certainly didn’t want to see it happen again, and more importantly for Peter not to take the bait this time and fall for her._  
  
 _But he thought I was cute, that had to be good, right?_  
  
 _Then I thought about it some more, what on earth was he doing with Suzanna if all of a sudden he did actually like me? And why hadn’t he mentioned anything or asked me on a date? He was obviously just trying to make me feel better about the situation I had found myself in with Ezra, and not wanting to cross any imaginary lines of ethics that Peter had led me to believe existed._  
  
“I was such a jackass.” Daniel shook his head. “All that wasted time when I should’ve just bitten the bullet and asked her out.”  
  
 _I had a plan and as soon as I got to work the next day I acted upon it, I only hoped that it would work. I had called Ezra that morning insisting that he come by the office as there was something I wanted to discuss with him. I went to meet him at the appointed time, knowing full well that Peter would be coming back from lunch at the same point, hoping and praying that Ezra would be on time. He was, and like an ice skater performing the perfect triple axis, I hoped that laying one on Ezra in front of Peter would not only have to be exacted precisely and faultlessly but also would have the added effect of making Peter jealous._  
  
 _Spotting Ezra walking from the elevator, I swooped in, like an owl with its talons ready to gather its prey, not even sparing a second to think about what I was doing. My arms were about him in an instant pulling him towards me, my mouth on his, kissing him with as much force as I could muster all in the vain hope that Peter caught even the merest glimpse. I wanted to go and watch Ezra’s debut that night as his girlfriend, but he told me his mother would be his cheering party and that it would be my turn next. I conceded, there was no way that I would want to come between Ezra and his mother._  
  
 _But had Peter seen it? As soon as I turned the corner to the receptionist’s doughnut, I realised that he had. The fish face was back but this time his mouth was completely open, not in shock but in bewilderment, I believe. “Wow, you’re really not hiding anymore, are you?” He managed before I smiled sweetly at him and disappeared down the tube, biting my lower lip as I entered my office. I avoided him for the rest of the day but I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in his head, especially as every time I looked up from my work towards his office, I could swear he was looking at me._  
  
 _Deciding that I was going to go to see Ezra anyway, I ordered my ticket, readied myself for the show and found my way to the seat that had been allocated to me. A hush descended upon the crowd, Ezra walked down the aisle with a young woman, a beautiful blonde woman, the possibility that she was indeed his mother very improbable. He ushered her to a chair, looking up towards me at the same time as I was prepared to run from the building but I was caught up and my first opportunity to get out came at the interval. He was waiting for me, his face apologetic, trying to sell me some story about his agent and manager getting him publicity by having a hot woman on his arm. And that’s when I hit him, I got my Queen’s courage together, drew back my fist and punched him in the face, knocking him back against the wall and onto the floor._  
  
 _I wasn’t proud of myself but I did feel good._  
  
“Way to go, Betty.” Daniel quietly cheered her on.  
  
 _But I knew that things weren’t what they appeared to be. Despite my insistence that Ezra and I hide our blossoming relationship, it was in fact Ezra that was hiding me. I felt that every time I was progressing and moving forward, there was always actually someone there to remind me that I was just a dork, with braces and glasses._  
  
He dropped his head. “Oh, Betty.”  
  
 _Thankfully Iris was there to remind me that the braces would soon be off. “Yeah, but what if nothing changes? Then I'll have nothing to blame.” I responded gloomily._  
  
 _“Oh, honey. You gotta stop.” Iris soothed my aching heart, “somehow you got it in your head that this is your story. But you gotta let that go. It's time to come up with a whole new story for yourself. You are who you are. And the sooner that you're okay with that, the sooner that you see what I see, the happier you're gonna be. I swear to God.” To this day I still believe that that was the best pep talk that my sister has ever given me. Yes, I was on the verge of crying but she made me see that there was still so much more for me to experience, to strive for, to want to enjoy._  
  
Daniel wiped at a tear, “I should’ve told you how beautiful you were more often. What was I thinking?”  
  
 _I made my way home, only stopping on the top step onto my floor because I could hear voices, Peter and Suzanna were talking and I didn’t want either one of them to spot me. I overheard some of their conversation, evidently Peter was there for recreational purposes but Suzanna turned him down. I panicked, hoping that she wasn’t going to send him away, I rushed up the final step and around the corner as quietly as I could, making sure that I wasn’t going to be seen. I loved Peter but I didn’t want to make merry with him tonight if I had to, I just wasn’t in the mood._  
  
“Yep, I was still thinking with little Daniel,” he said bitterly.  
  
 _The voices quieted before I heard the door close and the corridor left in silence. I breathed a sigh of relief, tonight I didn’t have to be Lily the peacemaker, or Lily the devotee, I could just be myself. I could snuggle up on my couch, under my comforter, a large tub of Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough in my hands and watch re-runs of I Love Lucy or Mork and Mindy, anything that would make me laugh and forget who I was for a while. The following day I would make steps to change a few things but for now I would just sit, feeling despondent._  
  
 _The following morning, after speaking with Ezra and turning his offer, to start over, down; I took one more step into the unknown. Picking up the telephone I nervously asked, “My name is Lily Cervantes, and I'm looking for a new orthodontist. I was wondering if Doctor Braunstein was taking any new patients?” I smiled as the receptionist asked me a question, “I’ve been wearing braces for over four years now and I’m sure it’s about time for them to come off. Wednesday?” I checked my calendar, “That would be great.”_

  
_I put down the receiver, marking a large red lipped grin over the date and writing ‘8 am’ next to it. I smiled to myself momentarily before biting at my lower lip and forcing my gaze up to look into Peter’s office across the way. He was talking animatedly on the phone but it wasn’t enough to stop the heart-stopping smile that he flashed my way or the quizzical look that crossed his face as my own smile broadened. He could obviously tell that I had a secret. He was up out of his seat and moving around his desk in no time, and once his call had finished he was striding purposefully towards me. He opened the door, his arm resting against the frame above his head as his grin became lopsided and lazy. “You ok?”_

  
_“I’m great,” I nodded._

  
_“Any particular reason?”_

  
_“No.” I shook my head, glancing down at my keyboard and biting my lip once again._

  
_“Will you two please get a room?” Dean’s scornful question completely lost on us as we continued to stare each other down._

  
_“I’ll find out, Lily.” Peter confided, my eyebrows hitching up in question, even though I couldn’t stop grinning wider and wider. “I always do.” He confirmed, letting the door close behind him as he retraced his earlier steps, stopping briefly to turn on the spot, smile and shake his head at me before chuckling to himself and walking back into his office._

  
_“It’s like watching the young and the hopeless.” Dean spat out in derision._  
  
 _“You mean restless, although …”_  
  
 _“Ah, she speaks.” Dean put up his finger to my mouth in order to stop me from saying another word. “And no. Definitely hopeless.” He strutted from the office, obviously on a mission to tell Suzanna what had happened. I looked back to my monitor in the vain hope that I could get an idea of what I wanted to say for the piece I was writing, but nothing would come. After all, what can you say about the first album of the next hottest boy band that hasn’t already been said a million times over before?_  
  
 _I sat back in my chair, thinking about how Peter would react to this next big change. I hoped that underneath all of the brackets and wire that my smile would at least be brilliant, if not beautiful; that it wasn’t too soon for the braces to come off as my previous orthodontist had advised and I looked like a monster. Would Peter like me better? Or would things stay the same? I looked up once more, catching him looking my way, perhaps there was just the smallest chance that he did like me more than he was letting on? I nodded to him before getting up from my seat, grabbing my coat and making for the door, I needed to get some inspiration from somewhere rather than spend my time gawping at my boss and friend, otherwise I’d never get any work done._  
  
 _The next few days went by in a whirl and I was soon on my way to see Doctor Braunstein having said one final goodbye to the metal attached to my teeth. I would soon be able to enjoy all of the corn on the cob, candy apples and popcorn I could stomach, I would be able to have a decent photograph taken of me with my new smile for my new work ID and I would never again feel like an ugly duckling whenever I smiled. This was it. This was what I had waited for, for so long, the one final hurdle to becoming a swan. In mine and my family’s eyes anyway. Nothing more could be done to transform me._  
  
Daniel sat back into the couch and rested his head against the back of the seat, a wistful smile in place as he contemplated the events leading up to the removal of Betty’s braces. “She looked so beautiful,” he said, closing his eyes to the memory.  
  
“You look happy?” His head snapped up at the sound of Gabriella’s intrusion into his dream. “What were you thinking about?”  
  
“When Betty’s braces came off. Her smile was so amazing, not that it wasn’t before, but to see how happy she was, how she’d finally turned into this beautiful woman, I just remember feeling so happy for her and also so sad at the same time.”  
  
“Sad? Why?”  
  
Daniel shook his head, “because I knew it would only be a matter of time before she’d be snapped up by some good looking guy and I wouldn’t get a look in.”  
  
“But she didn’t, not before she moved to London.” Gabriella concluded.  
  
“No, but I wasn’t aware of that at the time. I just kept thinking that there was no way that she would want me, that I was nowhere near good enough for her.”  
  
“And yet all that time …”  
  
Daniel nodded, “… she wanted me. She loved me.”  
  
“I’m sorry, Daniel.” Gabriella said, “if only I’d known sooner.”  
  
Daniel’s brow furrowed, “knew what sooner?” He asked.  
  
“How you felt about her. If I’d known sooner then I could’ve stopped things,” her eyes were hooded as she spoke, never once looking up at him.  
  
He reached forward, his hands holding her arms, his mouth suddenly dry, “stopped what?” Gabriella shook her head, tears forming along her lashes as his hands gripped tighter. “What, Gabriella, what could you have stopped sooner?”  
  
“The pregnancy,” she cried, “I’m pregnant and you’re the father.”  
  
.oOo.  
  
The storm that was hitting their piece of Colorado carried on for another week. And even though Betty had become increasingly agitated over those seven days, Becks had done all he could to keep her calm.   
  
They’d moved hotels several times, they’d shared a suite on each occasion and she had taken to only going out when she knew Becks wouldn’t mind accompanying her. He’d asked her what was going on but it had taken her three of the seven days to open up to him, making him promise her that he would never impart his knowledge to Daniel, only Betty would do that, and only when she was good and ready.  
  
Once he’d heard the stories and had them confirmed by a rapid conversation with Claire when Betty had been in the bath, Becks knew that he would have to keep up his role as guardian until he had safely passed Betty over to Daniel. He prayed that the storm would end quickly, not only for his own peace of mind but because there were things happening that made him believe that Betty’s ex, or someone on his payroll at least, was trying to scare her. Several times they had come back to their room for Betty to find notes in the most unsuspecting of places, or for things to mysteriously go missing during the day and then reappear after dinner or breakfast the next day. If this Garry was trying to mess with Betty’s head then he was doing a great job.  
  
Not that Becks minded, after all his cargo was too precious, and he enjoyed the feel of her small body tucked against his when she was literally crying on his shoulder. Daniel was a lucky s-o-b and Becks couldn’t help but think that if only he could find someone like Betty for himself, then maybe he could be as happy as his friend. Was Gabriella right for him? He couldn’t say but there seemed to be something up with the bigger picture. Once the shoot had finished why had she insisted on them going to Aspen when they could still be lounging around comfortably in bed in Mexico? The heat searing their skin as they made love on their private beach. “Oh my God.”  
  
Betty sat back, blinking her eyes at the sudden invasion of light after Becks had put on the bedside lamp. “What’s up?”  
  
Becks got up from the bed, “can I use your laptop?”  
  
“Sure,” she made her way to the table, opening up the computer and logging in, “is something wrong.”  
  
“Maybe,” he shrugged, sitting down next to her and opening up the web browser as soon as Betty had passed the laptop to him. “It may be nothing but then it maybe something.” He said non-committedly.  
  
“I guess I know who the researcher was when you and Daniel were both at college.” Betty giggled.  
  
Becks grinned, “he really did suck at researching.”  
  
“Didn’t change at work, either.” Betty replied. “What are you looking at?”  
  
“I just have this nagging feeling … oh, wait. What’s this?” He turned the laptop around for Betty to get a clearer picture of the webpage he was looking at. “Now I know why I was so sure I’d met her before.”  
  
“Gabriella?” Betty whispered, reading the headline and skimming over the story, “only she’s not Gabriella.”  
  
No wonder she had professed her love for Daniel after making love to Becks, at the time he’d had to wonder what kind of woman would do that. He took back the laptop checking that his assumptions were correct. “No, I remember now, I was asked to shoot some gala event in London at the Mayfair hotel about three years ago. The room overlooked Hyde Park, the view was stunning. I was snapping away thinking about how such a beautiful woman was caught up in this lifestyle, she was clearly bored with it.” He opened up his online drive, searching through the pictures. “I wasn’t allowed to speak to the guests, so I’d asked one of the waitresses about her when we’d gone for a break. Turned out she was some lower middle class girl from somewhere in Essex, had had a bit of a modelling career before Garry had pulled her from obscurity. Her name was Tracey or Kelly or something.” He watched amazement fill Betty’s face with the words of his story, “Anyway, Garry gave her everything she wanted, a new name, a title, as much money as she could handle but it all turned a bit sour when there was a business deal that went wrong. After about eighteen months, she realised she didn’t like her new lifestyle very much but she was already in too deep. She’s Lady Liberty, Betty. Garry’s wife.”  
  
Betty took over, her fingers working fast. A smile suddenly tinted her lips, “there’s no divorce.” She looked Becks squarely in the face, “she’s still married to him. That puts me in the clear.” She got up, pacing the room, “he has no hold over me.”  
  
“Wait Betty, there has to be something else.” Becks said, scanning more articles. “It says in this paper from about two and a half years ago that he wouldn’t give her a divorce.”  
  
“But that’s good news.” She squealed.  
  
“Not necessarily, Betty.” He took her hands in his, leading her over to the sofa and sitting with her, “why would she pretend to be someone else? An Italian model, for example? We don’t know the full circumstances of hers and Daniel’s meeting two years ago. Who’s to say she wasn’t doing it just to get help, or to throw everything in Garry’s face. Where did you meet Garry?”  
  
“A publicity event for the magazine, I was just readying myself to speak with Mr Dunne about buying me out and my agent had already been approached by Garry’s publishing house to produce my book.” She paused, “oh no, he said that he would never let me go because I single handedly brought his company back to life. I’m his meal ticket, Becks, and Gabriella would be surplus to requirements.”  
  
“Unless, she’s working with him.”  
  
Betty caught the bitterness in his voice, “would she?”  
  
“If you were desperate for a divorce, what would you do?” Becks picked up Betty’s hand, “I have a feeling that Garry knew about you and Daniel before he’d even published your book.”


End file.
